hah, the tuesday post never came. I forgot that even though it was my day off i wouldn't be free. We went to Austin, shopped, went the nutritionist's, bought fabric at hancock for my two fave vintage maternity patterns. hopefully i will have finished dresses to post on here soon. Old Navy Maternity was dissapointing. There was only half a section with like 8 garments. so, even though i really prefer to try things on first, i ordered stuff online. i can't wait for it to come. after we got back home we had staff meeting, small group, and nick & nicky's st. patrick's day bash. i was so tired, and my allergies have been out of control since.

wednesday and thursday flew by and i just forgot.

Here is the promised post on somethings i chose for baby and why.

Diapers

I have gone on such a journey to choosing cloth diapers. When I first found out my mother-in-law used them, as well as having her babies at home, i felt like i would never measure up to her super mom status. Now we are doing both. i'm not really sure when the homebirth thing happened, maybe when my friend Siobhan had hers at home. Our friends Mitch & Rochelle Senti inspired us that cloth diapering was a feasible choice when we spent three days with them and their fifteen month onld last January and they didn't seem insane or overwrought.

Originally I looked at all-in-ones, since they were more like the disposable diapers i was used to using, but they are SOOO expensive, i had almost given up on the possibility. After reading the website i linked to last time, it seemed like prefolds, might not be too much of a pain, and after more research we decided on the following plan.

3 dozen unbleached prefolds, 3 or so prowraps covers (they are the cheapest and simplest, good for around the house), gdiapers little gpants (these are still only 10.95 a pair and are really cute and leak-proof), and gdiapers flushable inserts for when we go out.

There are a few benefits of this plan over all-in-ones. 1. the cost of course. Pre-folds are a dozen for $20 instead of $17-20 each. Also, they come in fewer sizes since they adjust more easily, so yuo have to get new ones fewer times. 2. other moms say that all-in-ones do not hold up well, because after multiple cleanings the thickly layered crotch wears out. Prefolds will quilt and only get more absorbant after many washings. 3. the gdiapers are a great altenative to regular disposables for when we are out, and have they best covers i have seen for a really reasonable price. The flushables are just that flushable, and they are highly biodegradable as opposed to regular disposables. they will spend about a month decomposing to a disposable's 500 years. also did you know that throwing away poop is illegal? it contaminates groundwater. flushing diapers sends poop to the water treatment facility where it belongs. The covers are great because they are made of cotton which is softer on baby's skin than nylon or plastic pants, but they have an eco-friendly waterproof liner that has elastic on four sides like a traditional disposable to keep moisture from leaking. the velcro closures go toward the back instead of over baby's belly so they are harder for little hands to take off on their own. All that in cute colors and still half the price of an all-in-one diaper. I'll take it.

Bottles

So we are nursing primarily, but it is always good to keep bottles and a pump around just in case. we got a free Playtex naturalatch bottle from motherhood maternity, which i really liked the nipple on(I gave it to Elliott one time when he was over for a visit and he put the whole thing in his mouth like they are supposed to do with nursing. What i didn't like is the disposable liner. Then i got an e-mail from one of those random pregnancy websites that sends me a dozen a week, announcing Playtex's introduction of the new "wide nipple" for their vent-air bottles. These bottles curve in the middle, which really does make them easier on your arm to hold for a long period of time, and have a venting system in the bottom to prevent air bubbles without a liner, so you aren't throwing away anything. The new wide nipples look just like the naturallatch to me, but are made for this bottle. Perfect.

Etc.

We are using mostly babys bliss and burt's bees for washes, diaper cream etc. because we like it natural, and of course baby bliss makes the ever praised gripe juice, which all mothers in washington told us was a lifesaver.

We do want a boppy pillow, and a bumbo seat, but will look for used, since the brand names are so expensive new.

I think Puj's go sling is the best sling it seems to distribute the weight more evenly so yuo can use it with a bigger baby, it comes in pretty fabrics, and is $48 instead of the other brands which are $70-90. Mom says we should get one and then make more like it. My other favorite carriers are meitais, which are also expensive, but i am lucky because i am getting my friends hand-me-downs she got on etsy.

We are using a port-a-crib, because I think the regular ones are ridiculously huge, and baby is going in our room. Ours is dream-on-me two way from babysrus because it will work with an older baby, it is very inexpensive, and it comes in the pretty dark wood color we wanted. It just came and I can't wait to put it together tonight with RJ.

most of the clothes on our list are from the gap. they have really well made cute stuff, adn their neutal things have a lot of brown instead of pale yellow and green which are unflattering on most skin types, and just not very cute. they don't have a neutral section, so you have to look through boys and girls, but we like kind of androgynous stuff, so we do that at most websites anyway.