And back again.

I stood in the store this afternoon gazing at the diaper shelves. I whole heartedly debated the difference between one more pack of Seventh Generation diapers and the cost of washing an extra load of prefolds, which I can bleach again to be sure the impetigo is completely eradicated. My mind scrunched up and my heart was pulled...I just couldn't justify purchasing another package of these diapers, despite the convenience of disposable material.

My husband, the head buyer for this particular store, walked up to me and smirked. I told him my thoughts and he just said, "it's been a long time since I used a prefold, I'm not sure I remember." I told him I'd take care of it until Sunday, when the medication will come to it's end. Then we can use the pocket diapers he's come to know so well. "Whatever you think!" he said.

I walked out without a new pack of 'sposies. As soon as we walked in the door to our house I happily changed T into a prefold with the Flip cover that I love so much. He exclaimed, "poo poo!" with enthusiasm, as he loves to do while walking around with a diaper in hand. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the Seventh Gen diapers we've been using for the last few days. He never picked one up & told me it was a diaper, the way he does with any of the ones in our stash. But the moment that cloth hit his bum...he knew. And he smiled as big as me.

Disposable Diapers

I am not a fan. Let me emphasize that. I am NOT a fan.

That said, of course, I am a cloth diaper enthusiast. I have been cloth diapering my son since he was a week old, starting with a diaper service and moving on to washing our own by the time he was 3 months. Yes, it takes some getting used to, but so does parenting. It has pretty much always been a part of my routine as a mom. I love my son with a fluffy butt - how else would his skinny little bottom hold up his pants?

A couple of weeks ago, he managed to get a terrible rash. Ever since solid foods were introduced, his bowel movements have been detrimental to his delicate skin, unless it's removed promptly from his behind. I wasn't able to get to him fast enough this one time (he was in child care as I taught a class), and that spurred a whole chain of ick leading to impetigo. Not fun. Poor guy couldn't even sit down in the bath. I didn't know that was what had happened, but once we took him to the doctor, it was evident he'd need a prescription to heal it up.

That was Friday - and since cloth really shouldn't have any kind of creams on it, and impetigo happens to be highly contagious and can get into the cloth itself - well, we decided to get a pack of Seventh Generation diapers to use instead. Lesser of the evils in my opinion!

I can say this: disposable diapers take up a lot less space in the diaper bag. I don't have to carry them home again, either. Plus, my husband actually said to me, "Disposables are a lot easier, huh?" Which meant to me that snaps are harder to change than sticky tabs. Since T learned how to open aplix, I converted all of our cloth over to snaps.

Here's negative number one for me: I can't stand the smell of a disposable filled with urine. At all. It hits me as soon as a child walks past me with a gel soaked urine filled sposie. It is truly gross!!! I can normally (partially) ignore it, since these disposable wearing children I speak of are not my own, but when it's T who is sporting such diapers, I cringe and hold my nose as I catch him to change him.

So, we are going through a lot of these things - because of my distaste for the smell but also because he shouldn't be sitting in the same dipe for too long with the impetigo. And I feel guilty at the sheer number of diapers we're throwing away in such a short time! It's no wonder so many disposables go to the dump every day.

Thankfully, once his 10 day antibiotic usage is over, I'll be getting him back into cloth. But these next 7 days can't go by fast enough!

Cloth Diaper Maker?

I have a new obsession - I've been wanting to apply my sewing skills to diaper making for a while now, but just couldn't get past the researching stage. I searched & googled and looked at all kinds of fabrics and notions and just couldn't get myself to make a purchase...until a local friend who is due with #2 in a week told me she wanted to cloth her second, but just couldn't afford the start up costs. I put myself to work and made the first diaper out of recycled materials...and I'm hooked! I have been cutting patterns for the last two days while I wait for my newly ordered PUL lining to arrive. I can see how much fun this will be, and I hope to keep it fun!

Here's a pic of #1 -

I can see this blog quickly turning over to a mommy blog....but hey, who will notice at this stage of the game? :)

Clean B review

Now that I've tried & finished my bag of Clean B, I've got to tell you all about it:

I sit here with a clean basket of clean diaper laundry sitting next to me - and I'm enjoying the wafting scent of honey almond that is rising up to my nose. I love love love this stuff! I haven't had such a tantalizing washing experience since I began washing our own diapers when T was 3 months old. Before that I only smelled the bleach in the diaper services' prefolds, so I can't say that was much nicer! This stuff is truly amazing, though. Not only do I feel my boy's diapers are coming out super clean, but they smell sooo nice! I have been hogging this bag of Clean B just for our diaper laundry, so I haven't had the pleasure of smelling it on my clothing, but when my new bag, just ordered today, arrives, I very well may put it to use in all areas of laundering.

Update - I began writing this on Friday, and since I received my new bag of Clean B in scent Baby Fresh yesterday, I have soaked and washed two loads of dirty clothes in this fantastic stuff. One load included the unfortunate exercise clothes of my brother's - which I have thrown into our laundry before and only had my clean clothes come out smelling like feet. (Sorry Eric, but they did!) This time, I soaked all of our clothes, his and my family's in one, with a generous scoop of Clean B, for an hour. Then I washed as normal and dried as normal...and guess what? No foot smell! In fact, I just sniff the lovely scent of the detergent and that's all. Thanks, Clean B!!!

So - right now, they are running a giveaway when they reach 1000 fans on facebook. If you aren't already a fan (press like) go on over to Clean B and like them! Let's get the momentum going here...

I won!!!

Yes, I won something! I won a bag of Clean B detergent! This is exceptionally exciting to me, because I have been looking into a new detergent for my diapers again. I tried & love Rockin Green, but I managed to get a (mild) stink again that just won't go away. Having recently read many reviews of Clean B, I visited the website to read & learn more about the work at home mom & maker of Clean B, Melissa. I decided I really wanted to try it out. So, here's my chance!

Clean B was born out of the desire to have a great natural detergent that cleans well and leaves a scent behind when all is said & done. I love this idea, as most natural detergents are scentless by the time the wash is being folded, and while the heavy perfumes of regular detergent really bother me...to the point of getting a headache...a little scent would be nice. And wow - do they offer a LOT of scents!!! It's boggling to think of the process creating these detergents! I'm quite curious to see which scent will arrive at my door.

Just HOW did I win such a prize? you may ask. Well, a while back, I joined up as a seeker on Green Quiz Quest. It's easy to join, just go to their site and enter your email on the upper left corner of the home page. I have been checking and answering riddles on their facebook page. This time, not only did I answer correctly, but my name was chosen along with three other lucky people. I guess it was a few days ago because I was about to be outed if I didn't answer them soon!

Fortunately, they contacted me again (I found out later the original email they sent didn't go thru) and here I am! Quite excited about this one.

Reiki sessions & giveaway!

After a couple of years hiatus from offering Reiki sessions, I've now signed on with Woodstock Integrative Health as a Reiki Master. I'm very excited to be offering sessions again, as I have seen tremendous results with clients in the past, and I just enjoy sharing the love!

What is Reiki? It's a non-invasive energy therapy which supports the body's natural ability to heal itself. It works on all levels of our being: mental, spiritual, emotional and physical. Reiki enables the mind to fully relax, giving you an opportunity to reconnect with your inner self and re- establish a sense of wholeness and well being. Every individual experience is different as each body responds in different ways to Reiki energy.

Some benefits of Reiki include:

*Reduces stress and tension

*Pleasant means of achieving a state of total relaxation

*Supports the body's natural ability to heal itself

*Can be used effectively in combination with other methods of healing

*Promotes a state of well being for attaining higher consciousness

NOTE**Reiki is not a substitute for medical care.

If you are interested in having a Reiki session or having more questions please contact me! Find my info in the sidebar.

**In honor of this new addition in my life, I'll be giving away a free one hour Reiki session once I hit 25 followers! That's right - only 25...

Don't live in the area? That's ok. Reiki works regardless of where you live. If you live outside of the Woodstock region, I will honor the winner with 4 distance sessions of 15 minutes each. So....let's get started, tell your friends! :)**

Eco-Fashion Giveaway

Ok, of course, I would love to win this giveaway, but I just had to share it with you all since it's just too fun not to share! First of all, just check out this bag made of recycled seat belts. Seriously...it's awesome!

So, for your chance to win - not just this bag, but a whole bunch of other goodies - go to http://www.shefinds.com/2010/itsrecycled and follow their directions. Click on this post title or copy/paste the address into your browser. Contest ends on Wednesday the 17th! Good luck!