Not so sure about North Shore Santa

Pacific Overlook

A Swim after Thanksgiving Dinner

You my only friend...

Just a Little Spattering of Beef Stroganoff

Life is Good

I got the original Super Mario Brothers for Wii this afternoon and by 9pm this is what I saw. Feels like 1989 all over again...

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

And fun we are having!!

Over the past few weeks, we have really been settling in and it feels GREAT! Chris has been busy with work. We have picked up Skype and gmail video chat! My new favorite way to chat with people. It has been fun to get glimpses of friends and family. So nice to see friends, their babies grow, family and growing bellies with babies to be! LOVE.

We have met many neighbors. We get together for evenings on our porches, Friday night game nights from time to time. We have been invited and will be camping for Thanksgiving. That's right, camping on the beach for Thanksgiving!! It will be very different from sipping hot apple cider (Chris's favorite) and watching the windows fog from the hot, cooking kitchen and cool outdoor weather; but exciting! Our new friends have invited us to Bellows Air Force Station where we will be starting Thanksgiving Morning for 3 days!

I attended a baby food class at our local eco-baby/mommy store called Baby aWEARness! This was a lot of fun! Met the owner who started the business after she moved to the island. Learned about introducing solid foods (even though our little bugger has been refusing purees, she wants what we are having)! I have learned to admit I am a control freak (ha ha ha...I picture anyone who knows me saying...we have known this for a loooong time Naomi). Anywhoo- I think I have learned finally after almost 9 months that Greta is driving this bus, and we are along for the ride! We will just raise our hands for added fun! hee hee

I bought myself an early Christmas present of GroVia diapers to add to my stash of cloth diapers. Coolest thing is that they are cloth at home or out and about, then when we camp or travel I can buy disposable inserts that are biodegradeable AND good for our little girls tush! GENIUS! I am soo excited about this. :)

Well we miss everyone greatly, but are loving settling in and living here in Hawaii. See you on Skype soon! or looking forward to emails and phone calls!

Love

Naomi Chris and Greta too!

Koi Now, Sashimi Later...

House Tour

So we finally got our abode in order enough to take some pictures and a video walkthrough...

Oh...Monday!

I have to start by saying HOW COULD I FORGET to share that yesterday on Halloween, Greta waved for the first time. It was in her costume to Chris! It was perfect. We had been out and about this past weekend and some other shoppers were commenting that Greta was smiling and waving at them while we were holding her, but we never actually saw it! Last night I was holding her and we were looking at Chris and there it was, while we said "Hi Daddy"..So cute!

She is standing a lot longer nowadays too. She always seems to fall on her bum, but is standing much longer and getting more adventurous by the minute. Awhile ago, we started an over/under on first word or first step by Thanksgiving, but we are definitely thinking first step now! We will see.

Insurance Update from yesterday: Well, we learned that our new insurance starts Dec. 1st, so I had to cancel our appointments for today. I called our new clinic and they could not have been nicer (yah for us). The only negative thing is that our insurance must be active to make an appointment. I have been talking to other moms and the clinic themselves (all of which are in agreement that this isn't a big deal); but my main concern is that Greta needs her 9mo shots (Nov. 22 is her 9mo bday) and she is going to have to wait until after Dec. 1st. (I really don't want to go through the trouble of one pediatrician this month, another one next month. Seems like a waste of time on our part (one meeting appt, one official appointment, paperwork etc.) to then turn around and do it all again. Of course, if that is what I have to do I will, but it doesn't seem like a couple of weeks will be a big deal (any moms reading this have any insight?).

She looks like a nun!

Anywhoo-- Today Greta and I ventured to the Zoo to meet some really nice moms for a play date. It was pouring when we left, and the zoo is down by Diamond Head, so I gave myself enough time to get there, park and purchase a pass. Some of the moms were running late and got caught in traffic (accident on the highway). I was able to meet and talk with a GREAT mom who has twins just 10 days older than Greta. It was nice to talk about (what are you feeding now? how much? what have you tried? etc.). The sun, of course came out, and I was anything but prepared. Greta ended up using my hoodie for a hat (which she really didn't like). I wet a cloth and kept it on her head.

Poor thing, it was sooo hot! Overall she did really well! She is a little young to fully enjoy the animals, but must have enjoyed herself because she zonked out on the way home! Here is Greta at the end of our trip and a visit from a peacock:

We then ventured to the DMV to register my car! We had everything we needed, but they didn't have my Saturn Astra in their records for weight and now we have to go to a weigh station and have the vehicle weighed before the registration can be completed. ughh... DMV, at least the woman helping us was super nice!! She told us when we come back, we don't have to wait in line, just pop right up to her window! WHAT...you won't find that service on the mainland at the DMV. There is still that written test that I am dreading.

Later tonight we let Greta run around in just her diaper to cool off and just relax. She didn't get any crawl time today being at the zoo, and was completely envious of the toddlers running around the zoo, so she needed some unwinding time. This is how she decided to spend it:

hmm..what's in here?

no!! It's cool in there! Don't close it!!

Well, until we write again! Love you all!

C-N-G

Week in Review..

This was one of those weeks--went by fast but not a lot went on! Somehow the weekend seems to pull it all together.

We focused this week on helping Greta feel more comfy and safe in our new home. This meant staying at home, crib for naps and bedtime. It was quite a struggle, but we hung in there with numerous trips back to the bedroom. At times it was pick up from crib, stop crying, back in crib in a continuous motion. I felt like a jack-in-the-box with no wind up! But needless to say, it is getting easier, she is sleeping for longer stretches of time! She is still nursing in the night for comfort more than hunger (I know some people don't agree with this type of comfort but it works for now). She has always done things in her own (time), I should have learned that during labor!

I got my car Tuesday! YEAH! We were able to get a safety inspection and planned a trip to the DMV but they are closed on Furlough days, and this past Friday was one of them, so we hope to get my car registered and Hawaii plates this coming week! Then I won't feel like such an out-of-towner! Also, to transfer your license you must take a written exam. This creates much anxiety in me, (insert laughter at myself here); of course, I have been reading the driving manual online at the DMV website. Did you know you can turn left on red (only when driving from a one way street to another one way street after stopping)? hmmmm..see I did learn something new!

We continue to get the house in order and have become quite creative in storing our crap ( I mean things). It's starting to feel a lot like home and we like that! We have some things to hang on the walls, some pieces of furniture which might go on craigslist (counter height leather stools-too low for our breakfast bar; and maybe one of our living room chairs), but for now we are hanging on to them. We bought an outdoor table from craigslist today!! Very exciting!! I have been checking EVERY day, okay maybe like 6 times a day for new postings (there is so much turnover in relocations and deployments with the military, that craigslist is a GREAT place to shop!). Today was our lucky day. A young couple had a great table/chairs/umbrella set that they didn't want to go into storage (he is being deployed to Middle East in a few weeks (insert sad face). We were able to help each other out which felt good! I have soo much respect for our troops and their families.

Today, what is quickly turning into our Sunday routine: Farmers Market and Beach! Yup, we hit up the Haleiwa Farmers Market again and went to a new beach: Waimea Bay Beach Park. Stunning, beautiful, one of our favorite spots so far! The surf and current were really strong (if you go to the link you will see the warnings). This didn't seem to keep anyone away, but everyone was careful. It was really breathtaking. To top it all off, within swimmable distance, we saw 2 sea turtles! What a great day! Of course, Greta was too busy eating sand to see the turtles!

Oh, yah! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Our little munchkin was tuckered out from the morning (market and the beach was all before noon today). She didn't nap much as we went running around to get the table (Kaneohe) and then still had to dress her in her BEE costume from Uncle Ray and Aunt Meghan! She was cute as ever and a tuckered out little girl!

Don't worry she didn't really eat any candy!

Here's to the coming week! I may join a playdate/mommy group tomorrow! This is ONLY a maybe because I have appointments scheduled for Greta to meet a pediatrician and us to meet a primary care doctor (trust me, this was not an easy task this week, Greta had to get accepted to the practice..I know, right?). Well Saturday we received from forwarded mail and guess what! Our insurance is changing now that we are in HI! This clinic (appt's tomorrow) don't accept our new insurance. So tomorrow shall be a fun day sorting this all out. Who knows when we will get our new policy number! (Better be soon, because 9mo shots are due in oh...about 22 days)...And we will be heading to the DMV too! Other than that, we don't have any other plans yet...Will keep you posted.

Love

C-N-G

Hale'iwa

North Shore Baby

It's late where you are!

Lazy Sunday's are the greatest, aren't they? Today was such a great day! After a night of Greta sleeping in her crib,(well okay, we had some scream outs when she awoke and needed comfort), but all in all she was in her crib until 5am when I brought her with us; we awoke with the only plan of the day to go to the beach.

Just a 20-25 minute drive (some traffic as we pass the Dole Plantation to get there), we arrived at the North Shore. Much to our surprise there was a nice sized farmers market, and yes, we did stop! How exciting! After my depressing trip to Safeway, don't know what it is about that store, but I despised the one in VA too; I was happy to see local produce. We have a market in our own town too which was this morning, but going to the beach seemed more of a priority. The market was great, fresh pineapple, tomatoes, onions, papaya, guava, string beans etc. They even had a contest for the heaviest taro! Exciting, right? Fresh local produce from local farms, it was fantastic- may even be our new Sunday thing! We left with onions, tomatoes, string beans, zucchini, gr. pepper and shredded papaya! I wish I can remember the farm where we bought the papaya, because the wonderful girl there gave us a recipe for thai papaya (hot peppers, lime, sugar, fish sauce, papaya and fresh tomatoes). This time we may just eat it in a cold salad, but the recipe is on our list of things to do!

We spent some time at the Beach, not our favorite spot thus far, but it was a nice, uncrowded area where we were able to see plenty of paddleboarders! Greta just LOVED the beach. She would pick up sand and drop it, try to eat it, find a stone and crawl to that one, pick it up, find another! She was all smiles. The water-SHE LOVES TO BE IN WATER! She would sit at the shore playing in sand, and as the tide broke and soaked her, she never blinked an eye! Even when we thought, "oh this one will scare her", no flinch! (trust me the water would be covering just her legs, we aren't crazy!). Of course, I was fearful about too much sun exposure, so we didn't stay long.

Speaking of sun exposure, I have grown increasing concerned over the past few years about chemicals and what we put in and on our bodies. Now that sunscreen will be a staple, I went back to a link that I had read in a previous blog. Go ahead look up your sunscreen. We have been avid users of Aveeno, that has to be good right? WRONG, one of the worst. I love California Baby products and try to be as natural with our little girl as possible, but this can be expensive. Looks like Johnson & Johnson got a great score and may be more affordable-who knew!

Once again I have written a long entry, probably boring anyone who reads it! But when it's late where you are and I want to share our day, this is what I would have said!

Goodnight
C-N-G

Mililani = Home!

First of all, THANK YOU, to all of our friends and family who have been such a huge support in this giant relocation! We ARE in Hawaii now for 24 hours. A bit surreal knowing we don't have a scheduled trip (home) back! Here we are, in an almost empty home, showered, tired, little girl passed out on the aerobed, awaiting our household goods to come tomorrow! SOOO exciting.

The plane ride went well. Our little one did great for such a long day. She was a bit fussy (to be expected) on the last leg of the trip from Phoenix to Honolulu (it was her bedtime, maybe she was saying "geez Mom couldn't you have scheduled the flight before my bedtime"..lol). Needless to say, after showers and ordering a pizza, we were asleep before 8:30pm (2:30am EST). We awoke at 3am the day before to get ready for our flight out of Syracuse, so being up for almost 24 hours hit us pretty hard.

Today has been great! We met a handful of neighbors, all completely sweet and offering any help we might need. Later in the evening one neighbor knocked on our door to see if we needed a pack--n-play to use before our belongings arrive tomorrow! :)

I think we hit up every Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart close to us today. We were price checking (anyone who knows me is NOT surprised at this). We signed up for Costco membership, and they were able to find our account from VA (5 years ago!!) and let us renew! GREAT. While we were making our last trip to get a few more items needed for the night, a friend my cousin connected me with called and surprised us with a homemade cooked meal (you can see the pic below). She and her husband and 2 babies live VERY close by, so we were able to meet them (finally after emailing for the past month or so) and get a lovely homemade cooked meal for our first night in Hawaii. THANKS

Keep looking for posts, they will get more interesting, I promise. For now, just now that you can find SPAM in every market (an entire facing in the Target food aisle), the people of Hawaii (everywhere we go) have just been so NICE, every place we turn to, and of course, they LOVE our little munchkin!

Good Night!
Love Chris, Naomi and Greta

What a welcome!! A home cooked meal. Thanks Jessica and Wes!

We made it!

BEST REALTOR EVER!!

A brief summary of our trip!

A summary of sorts from our travels!

Reason #982 NOT to use disposable diapers!

So, here I am using disposables. No, not because I have given up on cloth, that will not happen. Simply in getting ready to fly to Hawaii with our sweet little girl, the thought of flying with dirty diapers is not exciting. To be honest traveling with cloth, and trust me, we have been living out of a suitcase for over a month now, has been MUCH easier than I thought, of course, thanks to family I have not been without a washer/dryer. Thanks to flying costs including paying for luggage, how little room you have on airplanes, carrying clean and dirty diapers just isn't appealing. I mean we are not just talking about a 2 hour flight here. This is a total of 17+ hours of travel.

I knew when we were planning our trip that I would use disposables, I did not know how it would make me feel. GUILTY!! Seriously, the guilt I feel every time I change a diaper is overwhelming. I feel like I am letting down my little girl and me! Cloth is addicting, fun, green, healthy, shall I go on?

So in prep for our flight, I washed and cleaned diapers and packed them away. I began using disposables, started a few days early to prevent any mid-travel rashes! (what do they say..prepare for the worst and be pleasantly surprised?).

So our little gem had not pooped yesterday, so I appropriately fed her prunes/oatmeal this am. We had a normal morning and went to run errands and grab lunch. At lunch I think....hmmmm I should check. Well call it motherly instinct, sure enough explosion, through and up the diaper.. Through her clothes... seriously this is the benefit of disposables, the diaper people say is soooo easy? When I stare at my daughter standing on the changing table naked at a restaurant bathroom with poop all up her hindside, checking out the tiles on the wall like she is in a police line up while I wipe her and grandma Pagano helps get the towels wet and dry her off, desperately trying not to get her completely
covered in her own mess, I think to myself ... Cloth I miss you!!!

Home Sweet Home (almost)

Blue Tusk

Syracuse

Passed Out

I think I figured out how to stand

Sitting Up

Sitting like a big girl, just watching TV to see how her stocks are doing. We should put her into those etrade talking baby commercials

Go Yankees!

Plum

A little overdue...extended!

Well, we are overdue on a post for Greta's 5 month information. She has been a bundle of joy this month. Rolling over front to back and back to front! Scooting all over the place ( I can't turn my back for a second). She is so full of life and energy, giggles and laughter! Pictures to be posted soon!

Lately she has been waking up every 2 hours needing comfort (i.e.) to be held throughout the night, fighting to sleep. Yup, it's true, we are being played a little bit. It could have nothing to do with the fact that I find myself more nights than less, bringing her in bed with us (oops- don't tell anyone) and laying down with her during naps to get a good nap in myself. So, I have officially been spoiling her and me (she is only little once, right?).

Last night we decided to let her cry. We are definately not the (let's let her cry for hours type of parents), but you really can tell when she cries because she needs something, or is just crying for attention! (Does putting herself at the corner of the crib on her hands and knees looking into the hallway-stops crying when she sees us--give you any indication as to what I am talking about?) She cried only for a little bit and not consistently, we went in twice (once for each of us)regave her the pacifier, put her on her back and left the room! In only twenty minutes the crying stopped and she soothed herself to sleep with her blanket! Ahhhh! She awoke to nurse and went right back to sleep, then awoke wanting to be held again. We again, comforted her with her blanket and pacifier and she groaned a little, but quickly went to sleep! So she fell asleep about 830pm, nursed at midnight, fussy a bit at 2pm then up again at 530am to nurse, asleep again till she awoke for the day at 730am! SUCCESS in my eyes. As we continue to travel this summer, I know we will have less successful nights, but I will take it for now!

I want this...

My Favorite Pose

From Russia With Love

Hi Everybody

Rainy Day....Rainy Thoughts?

Today was rainy and dark and thunderstormy in Danbury! Greta didn't sleep well last night and it was MUGGY, which meant that Chris and I didn't sleep all that well either. Greta and I took a trip to Darlene's (childcare which will start upon my return to work Aug. 23rd). The visit went well! As long as Greta can move around, put any and every toy in her mouth she is completely happy. So I realized that the only sadness on my return to work will be me leaving her :( But,all in all, the socialization will be fantastic for her (another 3yo and 1yo are there too), and to be honest the socialization will be good for me too!

Greta enjoyed another messy meal of rice cereal tonight. She is actually starting to eat more than she gets on her outfits and ALWAYS enjoys her bath afterwards. Right now she is moving all four limbs up and down, exerting her energy to get ready for bedtime! Hopefully is soon, because Chris and I haven't had dinner yet. Lots to think and talk about in preparation for my return to work next month. In the mean time, planning family visits among those that are already planned are in store for our priority list. This weekend we are headed to Poconos with my mom's family to honor my Grandfather's Birthday who passed away this passed Christmas!

Will post new picture of Greta soon! Her 5 month birthday is Thursday! Be on the look out for an update.

Till then~

Explosion...it happened!

Everyone said the day would come. Actually, our pediatrician had been warning us that over time Greta would have less poops each day, but the ones she will have will be all over, up her back etc. Not very exciting I know. I have felt very lucky, she has kept things "contained" for the most part, and considering she will be 5 months next week, we've done pretty well. Today, as Chris would quote Joey Lawerence "WHOA" (up her back, through her clothes, through the sheet, through the mattress cover); an early bath ensued!

I guess this brings me to bring up laundry as I mentioned yesterday. I may be of a rare breed, I enjoy doing laundry. Something about the instant satisfaction and results just feels good! So when people were nay-saying about cloth diapers "You aren't getting a service?" "We will see how long this lasts...". I knew that laundering was not going to bother me (mind you, her poops are not solid yet so I don't have any "work" to do yet, again time will tell if my view changes).

Cloth diapers are really easy to launder. Stick the velcro on the launder tabs, pull out the insert if you have to (FuzziBunz doesn't require this) and throw them in a wetbag. When it comes time for laundry day (about every 2-3 days), I throw the whole caboodle in the wash with an extra rinse and Voila! clean diapers. When I can I hang them in the sun (natural bleaching agent...who knew!!), most of the time they go in the dryer.

As for laundry soaps, this is frustrating for me! Chris and I have been trying to live with as little chemicals/substances in our lives for as long as I can remember. As we are not perfect, every little bit helps and I don't mind spending a little extra for good ingredients. Many cloth diapers recommend cloth diaper friendly detergent, so I was happy to read that the Ecos brand I had been using was good to use, not the greatest but good to use! (**note: while writing this post, I just checked the chart and they updated it last month with new information that Ecos is not cloth diaper friendly, especially in hard water- THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING) Needless to say, I didn't change my detergent and things WERE going great.

Around 2-3 months old, Greta started getting a diaper rash, Bummer! We had used California Baby Diaper Creme, which I usually buy from Target or BuyBuyBaby with a coupon! The smell is great and is made by a mom in CA. This was great until her rash kept getting worse. I wanted to use stronger rash cremes, but having to be careful with cloth diapers, I didn't know what to do! I had heard about Grandma El's, safe to use for cloth, but had no way to buy it (online or special boutique's) while we were on vacation (Road Trip to Michigan) and her rash was just getting worse. My friend had told me about Triple Paste, which she swore by, and finally I said that the baby's bottom is more important than saving a cloth diaper, this mom was desperate. So I started to use Triple Paste and it was working, yay! Then, I began to think about all the money we spent on cloth and I was scared that I was ruining all the diapers! ughh..So I googled and googled on the road, thanks to Chris's IPhone and found Nell's Natural Baby. Nell had just had a baby and on her website stated that you had to make an appointment to shop her store. I emailed and she was a SAINT, I met her and bought Grandma El's. She also sells EarthMamaAngelBaby, which I have since heard wonderful reviews about but have yet to try. So I tried Grandma El's and used this for the remainder of vacation. Oh boy!

The internet can be our worst enemy at times and this was one of those time. "Diaper Rash is not normal" "You have to determine the cause of the rash"......ugghhh, if I knew the cause I could treat it better! This is when I thought maybe the prefolds weren't working well, because they kept her skin too moist. I later had to admit that I thought it was my detergent, especially since numerous diaper cremes weren't helping completely. The only thing we hadn't considered was the detergent. I started doing research and learned of Rockin'Green, Charlies Soap (mixed reviews so I wasn't going to try this) Allens Naturally. Decisions, I didn't know what to do! While in Rochester, NY for a visit, I stopped at Luvaboos to pick up some backordered items and learned that others had repelling issues with the use of Ecos. I purchased Allens Naturally, switched detergents after stripping my diapers and things have been GREAT! I didn't think of our hard water issue (we purchased a water softener when we bought the house).

All in all, I only have 2 diapers that still have leaking issues at the seam from the use of non-diaper friendly cremes. Not too bad of a loss. (Most diapers, check manufacturer's websites, don't recommend use of diaper cremes at all). The use of strips of fleece against baby's bottom when using cremes can also be helpful to protect the diaper, I had known this, but somehow in the drama of "not knowing what to do", it slipped my mind :(

The only advice I have at this point on laundering is use a cloth diaper friendly detergent up front, the chart listed above, is a great resource and educates the why's not just a list of good detergents.

So, I am certain at this point there will be more explosions in the Colquitt Household's future, but at least I am feeling better about laundering properly!

div>**On my wish list (may be moved to my Christmas list) is Nellies Soda (yes, it is safe for cloth and I fell in LOVE with the retro tin).

Prefolds, AIO and Pockets, Oh MY!!!

When I am asked about why I cloth diaper, it is hard to give a simple answer. The environment, the protection from harsh chemicals on the little bum, the sheer cost savings, the list truly goes on. The bottom line: I am addicted and in love with cloth diapers. It is like another language trying to learn about them and get the scoop from blogs. Women use initials for everything and I have yet to figure it all out! But I will share my experience so far. I think I am going to go broke on maternity leave buying diapers. They are just so cute.

I always knew I wanted to do cloth diapers before getting pregnant. Most of the children I babysat for as a young teen wore cloth (and those were the days of using pins..yikes). My mom used cloth when I was little, and to be honest the thought to use disposables never crossed my mind.

I was lucky and my sister in law, Erin, had a baby first and did a lot of research (Thanks Erin!) and I was able to utilize all of her hard work to learn about what she liked and disliked during her trials. I must have called/emailed her a dozen times wondering what to buy, how much, when, etc? It has been fun to share the excitement and experiment together. Thanks to Erin and Matt, I received my first 2 dozen Chinese prefolds and Thirstie Covers.

Best advice I have is to become a fan of http://www.diapershops.com/ on facebook. They have amazing deals all the time. http://www.kellyscloset.com/ is part of them and one of my favorite purchase sites, they ship fast and you collect points for purchases for little extra deals!

I started using cloth 2-3 weeks after Greta came home, once the jitters of bringing her home and getting up at night were calmed (not saying I am not still jittery...). I started with chinese prefolds (my go-to diapers) and thirsties covers- which I find the best cover (using snappis to fold diaper- so happy to learn there are no more pins). I loved this early on, but Greta has grown to have sensitive skin and these don’t keep moisture away from her skin. Big time booo….
I then found BumGenius Insert Socks for 2.99 a piece which is the same material as the Bum Genius diapers and is like an envelope to put the prefold in, and keeps my little baby’s bottom dry! Great find! Still very economical choice for cloth diapering, even with the use of the insert sock.

I also purchased a dozen Diaper Rite prefolds as they were advertised to fold and fit into certain covers without having extra material, so eh, what they hey, let’s give them a try! I am just starting to use them now, so will let you know what I think in a few weeks.

I bought a sample pack before she was born for about $58 which allowed me to test different brands before deciding which to purchase. I thought this was totally worth it. Let’s be honest, the cost for Cloth Diapering is up front, so I thought it was helpful to try before purchasing in larger quantities. (Those who know me, know that I despise making a decision before “seeing what else is out there”).

This is where I learned about kissaluvs (SOOO CUTE). I used (size 0) for newborns for about 6-8 weeks. I splurged and bought a dozen (loved them). They had a fold down snap for the umbilical cord and were darn cute. I would have been able to use this quite a bit longer but Greta had chubby thighs and they were too tight. These also did not wick away moisture. I would have loved them and used them longer if her thighs were smaller! Very easy (snapped on side) I used these with a thirstie cover. (these had dad seal of approval).

I found some cute Blueberry Minky (I have 3) on crazy sale before Greta was born: LOVE them for overnight! (remember I found these on clearance or I wouldn't own them, they are expensive..but I find really worth it). I want to buy more . These are my go to overnight diaper. Greta is only 5 months old so I have had NO issues with leaking through diapers at this point. She can wear this diaper without a middle of the night change with no issues. We will see if these hold true to my liking as she gets older and needs more absorbency!

Stash of diapers I currently use:
Bum Genius One-Size and AIO. This is terminology that I am still trying to learn! The one-size diapers have an insert to stuff and I think are bulky in an infant. I love the AIO (s, m or l etc.), because the fit is nice and snug. These are Chris's favorite because they velcro close (easy) and no stuffing. I liked these soo much that I bought about 6-8 in small and medium. I hope I still like them as she gets older! Luvaboos in Rochester, NY helped me start my stash.

Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size (they say you (typically) only need a set of small and medium to get you through potty training). Most sites have the old colors on sale right now, the new colors are GREAT. I like these a lot!!! They are slim, they snap at the waist and around the thigh, perfect for Greta's chubby little thighs. You can customize without bulkiness!! These are really easy to stuff and the insert comes out in the wash on their own! I also bought 6-8 in small and medium because I loved these soo much!

Blueberry Minky (I have 3) and use them at night (remember I found these on clearance or I wouldn't own them, they are expensive..but I find really worth it). I want to buy more of these.

We travel a lot, and I find that my stash suits me well. I find having 2 dozen on hand in rotation at one time great, as you won't be forced to laundry every day. I will have to do another post on laundry for Cloth Diapers, because that has been a whole other experience.

**I am by no means an expert, if I were on the wii, I would have received maybe a novice level for Cloth Diaper. There are so many brands I have never tried, different insert materials, fitted diapers and dozens of things I have never tried. This is just my experience and what works so far for me. As Greta gets older and bathroom habits change, I am sure I will be writing about new nuances with diapers and what works and what doesn't.

New to Cloth or interested, check out this summary which describes the types of diapers and learn the language!

Favorite Websites for CD:

http://www.kellyscloset.com/
http://www.diaperjunction.com/
http://www.nickisdiapers.com/

Additions to the blog....

So... I really want to start contributing more to the blog. I am not a "blogger" I keep telling Chris. Lately, I feel compelled to write and share some of my experiences as a stay at home mom these last 5 months. A sort-of documentary of sorts with all my trials (and errors) as a new mom, new to cloth diapering and other fun things, products and experiences I have had. So stay tuned....I may be starting something (I really think I will enjoy)....only time will tell :)

I really do wanna crawl, I promise!

Mmm I like sweet potatoes!

I Love Swimming!