Great Cloth Diaper Change

So today was the Great Cloth Diaper Change, which was an event to record the most cloth diaper changes occur simultaneously.  It was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records which is pretty neat.  But more importantly it is a day to promote the use of cloth diapers as a greener and cost-saving alternative to disposables.   Now, I am not going to get on my soapbox about using cloth.  It is not for everyone and it really takes a certain amount of commitment that many people can't or won't make.  But I wonder why that is.  Do you recycle?  Of course you do.  But WHY?  You don't get paid to do it and you don't save money by doing it.  Is it easy?  For some it is, and for some it takes an extra bin in the kitchen or an extra run out to the trash area to put stuff in the recycle bin. You've made the commitment to do it and that is great for the environment.  So is cloth diapering and really all it takes is the awareness that our actions affect the planet in deeper ways than just what we are doing at this very minute.  Think about it, get educated and take action if your heart tells you that is the right thing.
And now, some cute baby photos from the event at Granola Babies in Costa Mesa CA.  I changed Jack from a Softbums Omni to a Grovia AI2:

Lazy Mom lunch

Ok I haven't posted in a while but i keep getting inspired to post stuff, so here goes.  Today I was rooting around the kitchen trying to think if something to make for lunch.  Now I am not on a diet per se, but I am trying to lose weight by doing zumba and boot camp, especially for our impending trip to Italy.  So I wanted to make something that was low in calories.  I happen to have whole wheat tortillas, black beans, hummus and olives....and this is what I came up with:

So this is my burrito:
1 whole wheat tortilla (taco size)
1 tbsp hummus
1/4 cup black beans
1 garlic stuffed olive sliced
Layer wrap and eat.

So as far as nutritional content:
                          calories          fat        cholesterol
1 tortilla                   120          3.5g        0
1tbsp hummus            35          3g           0
1/4 cup beans             45          0.25g     0
1 garlic stuffed olive    10          1g           0

So that's 210 calories per burrito, 7.25g of fat and NO cholesterol. Not too shabby!  I had two!

experimentation and lessons

So i've been a mom now for 6 weeks.  And I have come to the conclusion that 1. parenting is a big experiment 2. you have to learn to set your expectations appropriately and 3. once you figure something out it will change.  I am mostly talking about cloth diapering here but it can apply to almost everything that goes into raising infants.   We've been testing out several types of cloth diapers to see what works for us.  We've tried fitted diapers, pocket diapers, all-in-one diapers, and hybrid diapers.  We've tried adding doublers and soakers.  If something doesn't work, try something else.  There are SO many options when it comes to cloth diapering but the main thing you have to remember is that cloth diapers will NOT meet your expectations if you compare them to disposable diapers.  Disposables, with their absorbant moisture lock-in gel, can absorb so much moisture that you could probably leave a diaper on a kid for half a day and not leak (assuming no poo, that is.)  Up to this point, we have yet to find a combo of cloth absorbancy and barrier that will not leak after 2-2.5 hours with our heavy wetters, on either the slim jim or the chunky monkey.  I don't know how any diaper can claim to hold over a kid for overnight diapering.  It seems pretty impossible to me right now but maybe that is because they are infants, always squirming around, the fit isn't just right around the legs or tummy etc.  And that brings me to my last point which is that, inevitably, things will change.  The kids will grow, they will because more active during the day and less active at night, they will be able to communicate when they need a diaper change etc.  So what works (or doesn't) today may or may not tomorrow, literally.  I don't want to give up on cloth diapering yet even though the multiple wardrobe changes, esp during the middle of the night, are really taxing. we'll see how i feel next week!

Ch..ch...ch..changes

Hi babies.  This week we noticed a lot of new things about you guys.  Greyson - your hair on the top of your head has started to grow back but you still have ben franklin hair in the back.  So adorable.  You are starting to be able to follow us with your eyes, even if the movements are a tad choppy.  Jack - Daddy says that you are "sporting a solid skullet" and you also have started to focus and follow movement.    Both of you are right on target for that!  You are both getting so big and can hold your heads up for short periods of time.  Greyson - daddy says that today you took a few swings at him. LOL we are sure you didn't mean it.  This week we tested out the gdiapers with flushable inserts.  I like them for when Daddy travels so i don't have to do so much laundry.  Daddy doesn't like the fact that you have to touch the poopy/peesoaked inserts.  Wuss.  LOL.