Day 2

So yesturday I took the clothes that I don't wear down and put them in a bag. When I first went in my closet to do this I almost didn't do it. I thought to myself I can't do this. I looked at all the clothes and looked at the clothes I seperated to keep and I just thought I can't get rid of any of these but I figured I got to do something so I started with the clothes that I really didn't care for anymore but it took more effort for some of the other things I just reasoned that I was getting rid of the bag yet and since I would be keeping it in my closet I can reach in and get something if I really needed too. I really doubt I'd have to do that but it made me feel better. I love how my closet looks now. Lots of room. Now I'm working on the girls' closet and I did one side already. Some of the extra clothes will go to grandma's for when they go for a visit. Going through this process has made me realize just how attached I am to things. I really didn't realize how bad I was hanging on to things for reasons that didn't make sense.

Six items or less

I was reading about some people that did an experiment with only 6 clothing items ( this did not include underwear, workout clothes, etc.) and I decided that I would lower the number of clothes in my closet. I'm not ready to go six items or less yet. So I took the clothes that I wear on a regular basis and move them to another part of the closet for me to choose from. Next I'm gonna take the clothes I don't wear very often and put them in a bag in my closet. If I don't end up using any of those things I will be sending them off to GoodWill. I haven't yet decided how long I will hang on to the bag, maybe a few months I don't know. But I am interested to find out how this will work out for me.:) In the mean time you can check out this website: http://sixitemsorless.com/

Cloth diaper petition

"Sign the petition to tell Target, Walmart and other retailers to carry cloth diapers!"

Starting New with Flylady

Well in the process of getting myself together. So I decided to go to flylady and give it a go. Right now I am getting my Control Journal in order. Most of the baby steps are for you to do a little everyday. I'm not following everything to a "T", but so far everything is going well. I read a tip that suggest that you fold your laudry straight out of the dryer. It might seem like something you would automatically do but I usually don't. I usually put the clothes in the basket and then some how forget about them. So folding them right out of the dryer first (not just dumping them in the basket) and then putting them away right away is making laundry a lot easier. Also I have decided that I am going to try to do more homemade stuff. I found recipes for homemade laundry detergent and cleaners on The Grocery Cart Challenge blog (http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/). She has a lot of good tips on there. Also I will be searching the web for food recipes as well. I figure the more I make myself the less money I'll have to spend and I think it would just make me feel good over all.



Visit Flylady at http://www.flylady.net

Cloth Diapers

Today i was asked about cloth diapers and so this made me want to do a blog about them. I love cloth diapering my baby and with all the choices out there it can be a bit over whelming to choose the right one. If you are new to cloth diapering and have the money to do so you can buy sample packages of diapers (these give you a little of everything to try) to help you decide which ones to buy. If you can't do that you can search varies blogs and review sites for others opinions. I have done a lot of searching and I do have my own opinions on which ones might be good. For me I have pretty much stuck with the Prefolds and covers. When I first started cloth diapering I bought the Gerber prefolds and flats and asked my mom and checked a few websites to learn how to use them. I also bought the Gerber covers to used with them. As my baby got older I discovered a whole new world of diaper. Though they were quit expensive so I just ordered a better type of prefold and covers. So when it was time to diaper a new baby ( i didn't keep any of the gerber prefolds) I once again searched the web and was happy to see that they now had one size diapers and diaper covers. I was too afraid however to venture too far from what i was familiar with and the fact that certain detergents can't be used with some cloth diapers I decided to stick with prefolds and covers. Because with my first cloth diapered child I didn't buy any particular detergent and I did just fine. I did buy some Flip diapers though for the diaper bag cause they take up less space. And I love them!!!! They are quick and easy to use and affordable. They are made by the same company that makes Bumgenius diapers which I have heard (or more like read) a lot of great things about. The Flip diaper Day pack comes with two one size covers and six stay dry pads (or inserts). When baby wets all you have to do is change the insert and use the cover over again. When you start out it is suggested to have at least 18-36 diapers for full cloth diapering (it mostly depends on how much you baby pees and poos and how often you wanna wash). The more diapers you have the longer you can go without washing though most sites suggest not to go over 3 days or so. So if you order two or three Flip day packs at about $50 dollars each you can have a full stash for $150 to $200 dollars. There are a lot of wonderful sites for ordering cloth diapers. The kind you get will depend on your budget and how much convinence you want. If money is no object and you want convience I would suggest an AIO diaper. Although I have not used them myself, from what I seen in reviews AIO's seem to be the favorite for convinence because you just put it on the same way you would a disposible, the only thing is you can wash the All In One diaper. The second is Pocket diapers these are similar to all in ones in the fact that you don't have to use a diaper cover but these come with "inserts" that you put in a pocket that is built into the diaper. Third place to me for convinence are diapers like the Flip diaper and the G diaper where you can use the cover over and over again. And the best thing is all these choices come in One Size options so instead of buying them in each size you can just buy one that grows with your baby. So again these are my opinions and they are pretty much based on what I have read on others reviews of the products except the Flip diapers that I have actually used. So now I'm going to list some diapers that I think are good choices so that you can check them out.

AIO's: Bumgenius

Pocket Diapers: Bumgenius, Fuzzibuns, Smartipants (these are very affordable)

Others: Flip diapers, Econobums,G diapers, GroVia

There are also Fitted Diapers (these are diapers you don't have to fold but you do have to put a cover over)

Like I said there are sooooo many options far too many for me to list and explain. :)

And also I have not used them all so I can only give my opinion based on what I have seen in reviews and product sites.

If I could buy any cloth diaper without worry of cost I'd love to get the Fuzzibuns because they have a onesize pocket diaper that allows you to adjust the waist and legs of the diapers. If only I had went to that site before ordering my prefolds.
I think the cheapest option is prefolds I found a package for around $150 were you get 3 dozen infant 4x8x4 prefolds,2 dozen premium 4x8x4 prefolds,8 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (4 small, 4 medium)and a roll of Bioflush Disposable Liners. They have other options you can add to it with additional costs. And the good thing is most sites offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount. The cheapest and most convinent in my opinion is the Flip diaper. I use them and the stay dry inserts do stay dry. Most affordable pocket diaper in my opinion is the Smartipants. I want me some of those!

Oh and there is something they call mini showers that you attach to your toliet for rinsing diapers. I love it! I wish I had one for the first time because dunking in the toliet was no fun and spraying them with the water hose was no fun either. So I would suggest getting that. Most are around $45 dollars.

For a diaper pail I just use a regular garbage can with a flip top.

Instead of buying cloth wipes I just bought packages of baby wash cloths and use those.

Here are some sites I like to go to:

http://www.cottonbabies.com

www.clothdiaper.com

http://www.kellyscloset.com

http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com

http://www.diaperjunction.com

http://thegreennursery.com

http://www.smartipants.com

http://www.bumgenius.com

http://www.fuzzibunz.com

http://www.flipdiapers.com

http://www.econobum.com

Just to name a few. Hope this helps someone out. :) By the way I must say that only you can decide which diapers are best for you.

Cleaning up

I was cleaning out some supplies that I no longer use. As I was doing this I wondered why products that are better for you seem to cost more. Then I thought maybe it just boils down to only buying what you need. So what is it that we really need? Do we really need 5 different cleaners? Do we really need several different skin care products? I wonder.....

New to this.

Ok so I'm totally new to this blogging thing and I probably won't get many readers. But I'm gonna try this thing out anyway. This blog will just be the rambling of things I think about. This is not an attempt to tell people what they should be doing. I'm just gonna used this as an online journal of sorts that others happen to be able to read. :)