before jia was born i made a somewhat radical decision to cloth diaper.

i say radical, because people look at me a little like i'm crazy when i tell them, and imagine leaky nappies with safety pins sticking out everywhere.

i do care about the planet. and i like trying to do my part.
but the reality is that i'm usually lazy enough just do things as long as they're convenient. cloth diapers are definitely more eco friendly, since diapers just clog up landfills. but i doubt i could have even considered them if they hadn't massively upgraded in the past 20 years.

there are so many cloth diapering options now days that it's almost overwhelming! my friend was using the flip system though and loved it, so i decided to give those a try.



these days cloth diapers are more like undies with snaps or velcro. some are all in ones, where you just throw the whole thing in the wash each time it gets wet or soiled. i liked the flip diapers though because they have an insert, and when the baby just wets, you can usually just change the insert instead of using a new cover each time. the inserts are much cheaper than a whole all in one diaper, and if you get more of them then you don't need to wash nearly as often!

jia didn't fit into them properly until she was about a month old. thankfully enough people had given us disposables to get us through most of the first month. i was kind of starting to get used to them though, and getting a bit nervous about switching to cloth.

but we've been in the cloth ones for a little over a month now, and are loving it!

sure, they may be a bit more work, but honestly not much! if it passes the husband test then you know it's not that bad! my grandma babysat for me one day, and i had a supply of back up disposables on hand just in case she didn't want to mess with cloth, but she caught on to the cloth system quickly and loved them as well!

another perk about the cloth diapers is that they look super cute! the covers come in all kinds of colors, and so i tend to just match them with jia's outfits since they look kind of like bloomers!



when i took her to the pediatrician for her two month check up, he commented on how much he loved these new cloth diapers, and how they keep the baby's skin in so much better condition than disposables.

i have to admit though that what ultimately sealed the decision for me was all the money that we'd save! they say that using cloth diapers saves you about $3000...per child! yes, you can use the same diapers from kid to kid, and they adjust in size from newborn to toddler! i even have heard of a lot of people selling their cloth diapers once their kids are done with them and getting even more of their money's worth out of them! it seems like they hold up to all the abuse and the test of time. with the flips it costs about $200-300 to get fully set up with all you need, but that quickly pays for itself within the first few months of use!

there aren't many things i love more than saving a big chunk of change!
and with cloth diapers, i actually feel like i'm paying way less money, to put something of much higher quality on my cutie's bum! oh, and plus it's good for the planet! ;)



jia definitely approves!

i can't believe we have a 2 month old!
in some ways it feels like jia just came along yesterday, and then in other ways it seems like she's always been a part of our family.

in keeping with my monthly tradition, i took another pic of her on her blanket. i had a hard time getting a non-blurry one this month. maybe i need to adjust some camera settings. so pardon my lack of photography skills!



unfortunately turning 2 months old = lots of shots!
so we just got back from the doctor. the visit kind of started off on a bad foot, because jia was just about to fall asleep for a nap when we had to go for our appointment. so she was fussy from the start and crying even while they just weighed and measured her.

when they gave her the shots they did like 4 at once with two nurses, each going for one chubby leg. she was so upset that she did one of those silent cries for about 30 seconds, and then cried for a minute...and then totally passed out fast asleep! she was so completely exhausted at that point that she was done for the day.

the good news though is that she had a great check up! she weighs 12.4lbs now, and is in the 75 percentile for height and weight! also the doctor said she's ahead of the curve right now developmentally...with the skills of a 4 month old! so i'm definitely proud of our little girl, and thankfully that she's so healthy and happy. she really is happy most of the time...just not when she misses a nap or a meal! :)

at two months old she's smiling and laughing and cooing all the time! i think she's really going to be a talker. she even coos and tries to talk in her sleep!

she loves to see everything, so we had to get a front facing carrier to tote her around the house in. she loves to be carried in it while i vacuum. she also can hold her head up well enough now to sit in her bumbo chair and she loves it!

she's getting pretty interactive now, and we're having a ton of fun together!

this past weekend my aunt was visiting from arizona, so we had a little family gathering. jia got to meet some of her relatives for the first time, and also took her first dip in a pool!

i was a little nervous that 6 weeks would be too young, but at the same time really want to get her used to water early!

anyways, i'm glad we went for it, because she loved it!



maybe we have a little future olympic swimmer on our hands? hehe. sorry, i think i just have olympics on the brain with it on tv constantly the past couple of weeks!

now at 7 weeks, she's also become a champ at holding her head up!



she's definitely already becoming more interactive! love this kid!

i would have to say that probably one of the biggest surprises of motherhood so far for me has been breastfeeding.

i think i went into things as prepared as i probably could have been. i mean, i took the hospital class and all...and read a bit about it in books. but still it wasn't quite what i expected. so for all you mommies-to-be, or whoever is interested, i thought i'd write a bit about my experiences so far.

i knew it was definitely something i wanted to do if i could from the start. i mean, there's too many benefits to list...it's great for your baby, it helps you heal, it's FREE, etc! and it's the most natural thing in the world, right?

i think that's where i may have been a little idealistic. at about 6 weeks in, we've definitely got things down now. but there was definitely a learning curve involved. for both me and the bambino.

i had heard some horror stories about pain in breastfeeding. i mean, definitely there was some from the start, but after giving birth it kind of put that pain in perspective. though no doubt, it isn't fun having scabs on your nipples, and for them to still need to function every 1-2 hours. not comfy. just give yourself a big titty twister and hold it for about half an hour to imagine the feeling.

but this part i was still kind of braced for. i'd heard about it. and once we got a proper latch down and i toughened up, things started to improve tremendously. if i was way too sore, i'd pump an occasional feeding into a bottle to give myself a slightly less painful break. it also gave my husband a chance to join in the feeding fun. the hospital lactation consultant also gave me a nipple shield to help my little one latch on better, and give me a little pain relief till i got used to things. that pretty much worked like training wheels for both of us, and once jia learned that she could get at the milk even faster without it, she pretty much weaned herself off of it.

during the postpartum phase, you are really getting used to so many new changes in your body...changes that happen really quickly!

at first i was afraid somehow that i wouldn't be able to produce milk. when you've never produced milk in 30+ years, it's kind of hard to imagine! so it's kind of amazing how your boobs step up to the plate and fulfill what their actual function is...and boy do they!! my doubts about even being able to lactate somehow blocked me from the reality that my boobs would pretty much be leaking milk at all times!

breastfeeding is a commitment. not only is a newborn frequently hungry...but you also frequently have to get the milk out...or else it's going to come out on it's own terms...in probably an embarrassing way. so the art of boob maintenance becomes pretty much a full time job. if you change things up, miss feedings, etc...it will not only equal discomfort, but you also need to stick with a routine to keep your milk supply strong enough to nourish your little one.

perhaps the psychological aspects of it are what have been the most challenging to me though. even though i believe strongly that it's something i need to do, and that this is a healthy and normal function of the breast, and that i need to feed my baby when she's hungry...it's still hard for me to nurse in public. even with a cover. it's crazy how our culture has distorted the function of breasts. should i feel shame for feeding my child? i have to admit that deep down it's hard for me not to.

it's really opened my eyes up to how skewed our culture can be. i'm getting over it. but it's been a challenge for me. i realize that i avoid now going out sometimes because i don't want to have to nurse in public. which is kind of wrong.

anyways, over all though breastfeeding has been a sweet and bonding experience...i just don't know why people don't talk about it more. the physical, the emotional, the psychological, etc...



it's amazing the way God makes our bodies to work though. when you've been carrying a child inside you for months, it's such a blessing to be able to continue that connection by continuing to provide for that little one with your own body.