Diapers

I broke down and bought a package of paper diapers today.

What I should have done instead of lugging 3 reluctant big kids, one eager not-big-but-not-really-little-anymore kid, a very reluctant preschooler, an indifferent and heavy toddler and the baby-who-at-any-moment-would-like-to-nurse-whether-or-not-it's-convenient to the grocery market is dug around in the boxes that have yet to be unpacked to find the cloth diapers which have plenty of life left in them.

I blogged about my diaper system over here a couple of years ago, but since our move, I don't have a convenient cloth diapering area. Really, I should just get over it and clear out the baby bed that Jude doesn't sleep in and use that as a changing area and set up a little plastic bin for holding dirties until they are ready for the wash.

I'm almost ashamed to post such rambling run-on sentences. But it is late, can that be my excuse? And I am somewhat frazzled from taking the children to the store and answering the same questions yet again. (Yes, they are all mine. No, I don't have a daycare [as if I need to torture other people's children by dragging them out on errands, too!]. Yes, they are very well-mannered - probably because I've bribed them with a lunch out!)

Perhaps instead of finding the other diapers I should sew some new ones. I did find two boxes of lovely flannel and can make up flat diapers in no time at all. I made some really cute newborn sized ones from these instructions, and she has instructions for regular sized flats as well.

The diapers I have packed away from the move are mostly from the Ottobre Designs pattern and from the Chloe Toes pattern. On my last go-round with cloth, I really liked the inners made from flannel and the covers from PUL (polyurethane laminate), separate diapers from flannel and the covers from PUL. For a while I was using pocket diapers, but I got all freaky about wet polyester touching new baby skin, then tried wool covers, but never got that quite right. I think in this hotter climate, though, wool won't be as hard to use (it was that it was colder and I felt like I had to keep baby bundled up, so the compression of the wool with clothes on top caused more leaks than I liked. Here, baby can have air circulating with less clothes, leading to fewer wet outfits.

Well, I think that's enough motivation for me to get up and get busy, no?

Lovebugs!

We made some adorable little Valentine's cards for the children to pass out to their friends on Valentine's Day.

Using the Cricut machine, we cut square cards at 2 1/2 inches from the Platin Schoolbook cartridge from assorted colors of cardstock.

Then we cut ladybug backs from the Paisley Cartridge at 2" on black cardstock using the Button Feature from the "Boots" and the circle with Heart cutout from the Shift-Button Feature on "Boots" on red cardstock.Hmmm, looks like my mats need cleaning!



The children LOVED putting the LOVEbugs together and made ooodles of them for their friends.
They gave quite a few out to grandparents and cousins two days before Valentine's Day, so we had to make some more and have another lovebug session today!

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