Cloth Diaper Love!! Getting Ready For Baby 2018

Today, we talk cloth diapers. Fair warning-this is a long post-but there is pictures!

We've been cloth diapering since Andrew came in 2010... 

My sister got me started on it, you can check out her business and blog here.  She's a doula in Nebraska, she's also done a guest post for me.  

When I first started looking into it, she told me she could tell me all about it, but it might be simpler to just read about it at my own pace.  Believe it or not, there is A LOT to learn about cloth diapers! So my sis sent me to Green Mountain Diapers.  They sell all kinds, and they also educate the buyer on what it is they NEED, what's "fun", what the different kinds are, what's different about them... You get the idea?  Now, there's awesome resources.. There's places on Facebook and in a lot of major cities where you can buy used diapers.  

My personal favorites are All In One One Size Pockets (I think I have that name right).  They have your protective (water proof) cover, they have a fleece pocket, and they come with microfiber inserts.  You stuff the diapers with the microfiber..  Now, you can always buy more microfiber inserts, or you can go to your local Dollar Store and buy car washing microfiber rags.... Or you can just get a pack of Gerber prefolds and have extra stuffing... Which is extremely helpful for days out and overnight.  Also with this kind, they come with (what seems like) about a million snaps.. You can put baby in them from about 7 lbs (my 6 lbs newbies didn't fare too well with the legs fitting.. and trust me, you want the legs to fit) to about 25 lbs was when mine grew out of them. 

My personal favorite diapers are Kawaii.  They are less expensive than most, but just as good in my opinion. We were given ours as baby presents when Eva was born in 2012.  They finally wore out last year-but just the covers, I still have ALL the inserts. 

Or, if you want to go with the old fashioned diapers, you can do that!  Gerber has those at any retail (though I personally wouldn't buy Gerber ever again, I know price is a huge factor.. and they are cheap).  My sister has used bamboo prefolds and LOVED them.  There's also flat folds-and YouTube videos to show you how to fold them... I always need a refresher course. I prefer using the prefolds with no cover while babe and I are laid up in bed for the first couple days.. They are more gentle on their skin and I'm holding baby pretty much 24/7 those first few days at least anyway, so with no cover it's fine.  Now, if you choose this way, you don't have to stress over the old fashioned pins, they have new covers that will hold the diaper in place without needing any type of pin, or they have this awesome little gadgets called Snappis that aren't poky, but hold the diaper on simply and pinless.. They have the little gripper like things the ACE bandages use to come with.  

Now, there are a ton of pictures and I will try to explain as much as I can.  

My leftover inserts, a flat fold, a few homemade prefolds, fleece linings and a few covers and the awesome little things that replace diaper pins!  Keep scrolling. (Just think Dory from Finding Nemo lol)

This is a closeup of the microfiber Kawaii inserts.. There are two kinds hidden in this pile.  There's regular and there's heavy wetter. The heavy wetter ones have more layers.  Now, you see that blue cloth at the bottom? That's a microfiber rag from a store..  Just tri-fold it to fit in your diaper.  You do not want the microfiber up against baby's skin,  which is why they are best used in pockets-you'll see that later... be patient. There are also fleece pieces, they are cut roughly the size of a baby's bum.. I mostly use these with the prefolds, the fleece wicks the moisture away from baby's skin.

These are those pin replacement thinga-ma-jiggys.  They look complicated, but they aren't. I promise.  They are called Snappis. I found them at Green Mountain Diapers. 

Here is one of my cheap pockets... Only used in a time of distress! LOL ... or for potty training ;) 

This is a BubuBibi cover.  No, I have NO IDEA where I got it from.  I have 5, and I bought them 8 years ago.. I have had to restitch some of the edging back on..  I should have unsnapped this all the way...  That whole double row of snaps makes it adjustable-like the velcro on disposable, the flaps on the side also have a double layer of snaps to make it smaller.. There's snaps (that are snapped) to make the butt part smaller... Now (I just learned this when Hannah came 2 years ago), you see that lonely looking snap in the middle?  That's to snap the middle of the diaper down to keep it off the umbilical cord.  All of the One Size diapers have it. 

Cloth Diaper love!!!  A cool thing about cloth?  Fun designs usually don't cost extra, unless it's personalized..  Some of this stack are Kawaii Minky-the outside (attached to the waterproof lining) is the minky fleece!! <3 Love me some minky fleece!! These are all, All in One One Size Pocket Diapers.

I didn't have specific newborn cloth until I had Hannah-and those were a few hand-me-downs from my sister.  These are specific newborn All in One Pocket Diapers.  They will go from about 6 lbs to 10 lbs.  There are a few covers hidden in there... I think I got a picture, stay tuned. 

This is a pair of wool "underwear"..  Those times when baby is getting a rash but you REALLY don't want to (or can't afford to) go buy disposables ('sposies)... Put babe in a prefold, pull these up over.  They let baby's skin breath while you still have that extra layer of protection.  I've never actually used these before, but I've seen my sister use them. 

This is one of those newborn covers.. See all those snaps!!!  You just put a prefold or flat fold in the middle and snap it on babe just like a disposable. 

The inside of a pocket diaper.  That's all fleece to make it nice and soft for baby's skin.  There is a pocket between this layer and the layer of waterproof to stuff it as thick as you can. 

Microfiber inserts for the newborn diapers. They are about half the size of the inserts from above.

Prefolds. These are not your momma's prefolds!!  Prefolds can now come in different sizes.  (Seriously.. I had no idea until my sister told me! lol).  There is at least two sizes.. maybe 3 in this picture... I've seen as many as 5 sizes on websites.  There is barely a difference between each size, but they sew them with different colored thread on the end so you can tell.  

Homemade prefolds... Are now becoming burp clothes... Because my sister is awesome.  Even if you don't want to cloth diaper, buy a pack of prefolds for burp cloths. They are inexpensive, absorbent and easy to tell from your towels. ;) 

Flat folds. These are your momma's diapers.  Or grandmomma's diapers... Depends on the family lol.   This is also a reason why I say I wouldn't buy Gerber again..  On the right, is a Gerber I bought with Andrew... On the left is a (I have no idea what brand or how old...) but it's one I got from my sister. You see that size difference?!?!  All that "extra" is that much more absorbency.

Right now, almost all of the diapers are in the baby's dresser.. Simply because I wanted them out of the tote that was in the way... But they will be finding a new home soon-in the bathroom on the shelf.. When baby's clothes come out of storage.  

I am slowly getting things out and ready for baby.. Obviously, I can only go so fast-which is a slow pace right now lol.  But baby will be in our room for awhile, then move into a bigger kid room depending on girl or boy.  So we can't just take up a whole corner (or two) of our room for a long time before baby comes.  So, a little bit at time, we'll get things out.. and share with you.

See my first post about getting ready for baby here.   

Have a great week! 

~Tabitha

Grocery Shopping June/July

So you can see my meal plan I was shopping with in the previous post..  We did change things up a bit before we went shopping.. We decided to go ahead and get cereal instead of making granola... And we also changed things up a bit with our Sunday lunches..  We had been planning on getting pizzas for lunch (depending on deals we can feed all 6 of us for between $16-$20, closer to $14 if we do Little Caesar's), but after working out a new budget, that was shut down..  We decided to buy fixings for pita bread sandwiches-which went over AWESOME and only cost us around $30 for the whole month, I haven't done the exact math yet.  Although we did decide we could easily get a case of something sweet from Sams or cheap cookies from Dollar Tree to go along with and still keep the cost really low.  

Now, we did have it a bit lower than this for the MONTH total, but then The Meat Lodge ad came in my email and they had bacon on sale for cheaper than anywhere else we can get it.. Now, that link is to their Facebook page because for whatever reason whenever I pull up the web page, I get a really annoying ad..  But they put their ads on Facebook.   Anyway, their special for bacon came out to $2.79 a pound (for fresh, local bacon!!), BUT you have to buy 15 pounds at a time... So total for bacon was $42, but that's going to last us around 2 1/2 months, so completely worth it to pay a little more at a time.  We also picked up some buffalo sticks for a treat while we were at Meat Lodge. Total was $57.49 

Walmart... We had a bunch of coupons and a bunch of things we had on a maybe list, depending on what our total was from the other stores.. A few of those things we decided we just needed to get-for our sanity.  We needed an everything killer (grass/weeds/sapling roots).. because our yard is in need of some major TLC..  So we went ahead and got that.  We also needed some chemical ant killer, because these ants JUST WON'T DIE.  I had a lot of clothes pins disappear on me, so we spent $2 on 100 clothes pins, and Andrew read 10 books, so he got to pick out a hot wheel.  We're also trying out Damp Rid..  the refillable containers, the crystals to refill it are $10, the containers were $2.67 each, I bought two..  We can't afford a real humidifier right now, so this will do.. I hope.  Walmart was $186.33

Oh the Farmer's Market!  We stopped first thing at Sioux Falls Farmer's Market (right by Falls Park if you live close).  They had an awesome selection including fresh local coffee and brick fired pizza ($5-$8 I believe) for a fresh made pizza, not too bad.  Unfortunately I couldn't pay the price they needed for a lot of their veggies, so we weren't able to get much from there.  Fortunately, I did find a stand that had good prices on green onions, so I grabbed green onions and honey there.. $22 at the Farmer's Market. Not our usual honey, but it was a good price and Dennis said it tasted really good-she let us sample it.  

So... halfway through.. where are we at.. $265.82  

We did get vitamins, peroxide, sterile scissors (baby birthing supplies) and another carpal tunnel wrist support (so I can weed eat again).. but all of those came off the HSA account, so they don't get included into this total.  

So..  Here we go again... 

We needed trash bags, coffee and ziploc bags at Sam's.  The rest was all grocery..  Pork Chops we were able to get for a little cheaper as we were there before the crowds and got the "old" meat that was on sale vs the new cuts.. And presliced cheese was on the instant saver this month, so I could get the presliced instead of chunk and having to slice it myself (I hate that job lol).  I believe the rest was normal grocery... Oh, we also bought white flour to help the flour cost...and to use just white flour with some things... like pizza crust...and cookies... and try to make my own crescent rolls one more time...  We did buy a bunch of bread, yes, I know, this is why we bought a bread maker, but their hoagie rolls are awesome on the calories and yummy to top.. We much prefer their Kaiser hamburger buns (eating Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches) and pita bread. We spent $294.11

Now onto Aldi.  Man, I love Aldi lol.  I had taken gatorade off my list because of price..  I know, it's loaded with salt, but my blood pressure is pretty much non existent, so when we have days where I'm not able to drink much water, I need the extra boost and there's only so much water I can drink on Sundays, but they had a case for $9 so we grabbed it.  We also decided that instead of buying our fries already made, we're going to do our own again. *whimper*.. But it saved us a good $10 in groceries.  I can do this!  Dennis did treat me and buy me a french fry cutter, we'll try that out Wednesday.. The reviews all said to make sure you get smaller potatoes.. so we did the smaller potatoes at Aldi, 10# for 3.49..   Fries are 5# for 6.98, so it will save us money, especially if the kids don't eat them lol.   They did have Kerrygold in stock this month YAY.. and we did pick up an extra of those, because it's twice as much Walmart and it's butter so it freezes..  We also grabbed a container of mushrooms for homemade pizza and ingredients to make some homemade trail mix-honey roasted peanuts, raisins and they had small bags of m&ms for cheap-so those are an extra, but worth it.   I was hiding them from the kids... but then I realized they have no idea was and m&m package looks like.... Is that sad? lol.   Last month I just used baking chips, but m&ms won't melt before they eat them like baking chips do lol.  Other than the diapers (180 for $21), the most expensive thing we bought at Aldi was Cold Cafe Bustelo, Cafe Con Leche-a 4 pack for 5.79.  Finding authentic Cuban coffee up here is getting a little more common, and my husband LOVES it.. So we grabbed one box (four containers).  The cans are tiny-he can drink it in two swallows lol, but it's cheaper than a coffee shop or the vending machine coffee and definitely stronger.  Well, after all that rambling, total at Aldi was $159.54. 


So.. that brings our total to $719.47... That's $180 per week for all six of us, including household items.. Or $30 a week for one person, for 3 meals plus a snack.  Seeing it in total stings a bit.  But I know there was $60 with just bacon (and buffalo sticks), we won't have to spend for a few months.. So that'll be $25 for next month.. and then depending on how is much, at least $12 less the month after that.  So while it hurts with that huge total this month, it'll pay off next month.  

We are trying to cut expenses as much as we can, while still trying to balance and have a few fun things here and there.  We did end up getting $6 back from our savings apps (I'll do a blog post on all of those now that I'm starting to get payouts and know how they work), this month was definitely the biggest with those.  Dennis always checks for coupons-though we've figured out you look for coupons online BEFORE you "clip" the digital ones on the apps.  So a lot of things we were able to use double coupons...  I know we saved at least $4 at Sams buying the cheese on instant saver, but it's not showing that on the receipt this time, and $4 on the pork chops.  Our receipt from Walmart says we saved $9 with the paper coupons. We have to scan that receipt into a new saver website Dennis found.. As long as that works, we'll get another couple dollars back on the laundry soap.  

But that's it for the groceries. Now begins the baking to have some easy lunches ready and the sewing for baby.  I'm going to try some smaller pieces with the same sandwich and machine quilting before I start in on the baby's quilt.  I've never done a design before (it's hearts I want to do), and I would love to do that.. But I'll be satisfied with just lines lol.  I don't have the quilting foot or the quilting guide for my machine, so my lines not end up straight.. but I'll do my best.  

Have a great week!!  

~Tabitha

Meal Planning for June/July

How can it be the middle of June already?! 

It dawned on me the other day I only have 10-14 weeks before baby #6 comes.   

I'm not ready for this... Does that sound weird? lol.  We have everything we need.  Thanks to my sister, we have a car seat and a new cloth diaper stash (I'll be sharing that in a later post).  Thanks to big kids, we already have a ton of clothes and the bit of baby gear we need.   If we have a boy, we'll have to make sure we have nicer clothes for church... and depending on how fast babe grows depends on what I'll need to make or find for winter clothes... We've never had a baby in the fall or late summer before, they've all been late winter/spring babies.   

Now that being said.. I'm feeling this heat.  Oof it's rough.  I'm used to walking a lot in the summer.. because that's when we can walk and I was really looking forward to being able to get out and walk at least a few times a week.  Well..  Those walks are going to have to slow down or get shorter, baby did not like the walk we took the other day. 

Now.  Onto the meal planning. 

I'm switching some things up a bit.. We are trying our best not to turn the AC on unless needed.. which means I'm trying to cook food in the oven on batches and on colder days.   I'm also trying out some freezer foods for when baby comes..  Frozen homemade pizza, frozen croissant breakfast sandwiches, frozen homemade hot pockets.   We also decided to help the budget and the taste, we need to mix the wheat flour with white flour... and use just white flour for things like cookies and pizza dough and bread... because it just tastes better.  

So.. on my list for breakfasts when Dennis is home (we're pretty boring the days he works.. eggs, bacon, yogurt and cereal for the kids).  
Croissant breakfast sandwiches
Omelets
Cinnamon Rolls
Cowboy Hash 

I'm really hoping we like the croissant breakfast sandwiches, because I can pre-make those, freeze them, then all we have to do is put them in the oven or toaster oven and it's a quick breakfast.. I'll also make some egg free for our four year old.  

For Dennis' work lunch we're not changing anything.  Salad (which is a home-mix of romaine, cabbage and spinach) with croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds and dressing.  A pickle, boiled eggs and some sort of Little Debbie-type snack for a treat.  The dressing depends on what Aldi has. 

For our weekday lunches, we're trying homemade hot pockets, I've been making meatless goulash for the kids and PB & J... I usually eat eggs or leftovers depending on what's there.  

Wednesdays we're back to getting chicken strips from Sam's.. and we bought a french fry cutter to do homemade french fries in hopes with a uniform cut, they'll cook better.. my homemade fries aren't that grand.  We're usually cleaning or doing yard work on Saturdays, so that's a pretty easy lunch for me to throw in the oven.  If we have a ton of leftovers, we'll do leftovers instead. 

Saturday lunches we'll have a week of Chicken Breast Lettuce Cups (basically a chicken breast sandwich except using lettuce for the bun, and a week of meatball subs, then rotate... 

Snacks.. I'm sure I'll make cookies at some point.. but I'm getting fruit and raisins and peanuts.  And we always have popcorn. 

Now onto the main event. The Dinners.. Most of these we'll do more than once, but there a few of them we've never had that we'll only do once.  
  

Dorito Taco Salad
Honey Mustard Chicken Avocado Salad
Homemade Pizza (some pepperoni, some Hawaiian)
Pesto Parmesan Chicken and Salad
Skinny Sweet Chicken and Salad
Smoky Maple Mustard Fish Fillets and Broccoli and Potatoes
Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches and fries
Sweet and Sour Chicken and Fried Rice
Crockpot Hawaiian Meatballs
Shrimp and Avocado Salad
Avocado Caprese Chicken Salad
BBQ Chicken Salad
BLT Salad
Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole (freezer meal!!)
Pineapple Chicken Tenders and Salad
Dijon Grilled Pork Chops, Broccoli and Potatoes
Cheesy Chicken and Sweet Potato Casserole 


Man.. Now I'm hungry just typing that all up again!  


The baby is doing good, kicking up a storm, especially when the big kids try to cuddle.  

Shopping trip coming this weekend with a trip to the Farmer's Market!! Hopefully we can get some good deals. 

Have a good week! 

~Tabitha

Baby Quilt Time! Getting Ready for Baby 2018

This is sort of a bitter sweet post... More sweet in my opinion.  

We lost a baby in October.  Dennis was my lifeline, reminded me to look to God, made me talk to him (side effect of having a husband with a degree in psychology lol) and put me on Ashawagandha root (I can never spell that right!!!). (I think I just gave my 9th grade English teacher an anxiety attack for overuse of parenthesis in a horribly run on sentence.)  For whatever reason, God decided he needed our baby in Heaven.  

Thankfully, God gave us a new blessing.  

In the pregnancy world, the baby after you lose one is called a rainbow baby.  

In the Bible (Genesis 6-9), the rainbow is a promise of renewal.  A promise that God is still with us.  


As soon as I found out I was pregnant I knew I was going to be making a rainbow quilt of some sort for this baby... When I got to 10 weeks, I told Dennis I wanted to do this and why.  He said "Well... in the Bible a rainbow is a promise that God is always with us... so we should do something that incorporate Noah's Ark, too."  I am SO thankful for the way his mind works.  <3 


So I went on a hunt.  And what a hunt it was.  I wanted a big panel with a Noah's Ark theme, to be surrounded by the material my friend I lost in January gave me.  Partly because I already had the material, mostly because she grieved almost more than I did when we lost our angel in October.. then we lost her unexpectedly and I still grieve for her, though I know she's in a better place.   

I finally found what I was looking for at Hancock's of Paducah. I had no idea that finding Noah's Ark themed material was going to be so difficult!  The surrounding rainbow colored fabric is what I had from my dear friend.  We bought a light blue minky fabric for the backing from Joann's.  I love the minky fabric, I bought it for Hannah's quilt and knew that's what I wanted again.  We have extra batting from previous projects, so I didn't have to buy that.  

The cool thing about the minky, we hadn't ordered the panel from Hancock's yet.. We had decided to stay in town between church services one Sunday and went over to Joann's.. picked the blue that's gender neutral and hoped it matched.  IT MATCHES PERFECTLY!!!

Now... because I wanted it before July (baby will be here by September hopefully and I have a million other sewing projects), we bought it when we had the money... then forgot the coupon when we went to Joann's... so paid an arm and a leg for the minky.  OOF.  

We spent $60 on the quilt (mostly the minky as the panel was only $10 with shipping)-but it's really the only expense we're going to have with this little one.  Everything else is either hand me downs, or things I am sewing from patterns and fabric I already have.  

I am going to try machine quilting... but that's something I've never even attempted and it seems all of the tutorials I find say it's best to use some sort of a template.... SO.. if anybody has any ideas that don't involve more money spent, please pass them along because I have no idea what I'm doing. 

So here's how I laid the quilt out.  Yes, I know the quilt squares aren't "square" and the ends don't match up... but I have a plan and will do a bit more laying out before I sew.. This quilting stuff is still pretty new to me. Please excuse the mess, I just cleaned and vacuumed yesterday.. but.. well.. kids. lol

Have a great week! 

~Tabitha