Z is for Zoo.

I've come to the end of the April A to Z Challenge and I've been successful! I managed a post for each later and stayed on schedule! For my last post in this challenge, I want to share a few more pictures. These are from our first trip to the zoo with W, so Z is for Zoo.

Y is for Yucky.

I'm nearing the end of this challenge and the end has proven to be the challenge. I had to be creative yesterday and today all I can think of is the color yellow. I was tempted to go look at pictures of cute fluffy diapers again but almost every brand offers a yellow diaper so that wasn't quite as fun as the other colors. Though I could have gone on the hunt for yellow diapers with cute color names like macaroni and cheese!

Instead, my thoughts wandered from diapers to something else... something yucky. So Y is for Yucky.

As a teacher there are a few things that I don't handle well. One is barf. When a student pukes, I just want to curl up in the corner. It makes me gag and want to throw up too. Now, W's spit up doesn't have this effect on me, so we're good so far. We'll have to see what happens the first time he is really sick and puking. I'm sure I will do what I always do in my classroom, suck it up and help the child in need. But still -- yuck!

The other thing that gets me is the dreaded poopy diaper! I haven't had this problem in my classroom (thank goodness) so it applies only to my dear child. Now he's never been much of a pooper and has always been a once every few days type. This used to make me nervous when he was little but the pediatrician assured me that some babies are just like that. I've calmed down about it now and actually see it as a blessing. Better than 10 times a day!

The only problem with only having to deal with it a few times a week is that I never get used to it! Now, I don't know if you can ever get used to it but when we have to change him it's like every time is the first time I've smelled such horror! It is definitely a yuck and I gag almost every time. This is definitely of my weaknesses as a mother! Perhaps I will get stronger or my sense of smell will begin to fade! If not, I am doomed to many more diaper changes while I try not to breathe through my nose!

A to Z Challenge: X is for X, the red X.

So X is proving to be extremely challenging as the only words that come to mind are ones like exciting, extremely, and exaggerated. I also thought of X-ray but I'm not sure what to do with it. So, as I was thinking about X, I thought of something I saw almost every single day at work and that is, "Click on the red X." So today X is for the red X.

You might be wondering what I'm talking about when I mention, "Click on the red X." I teach technology to grades K - 4 and with my little ones, I teacher them to click on the red X to exit their browser window at the end of class. Yes, it is actually a white X on a red box, but I'm not going to explain it that way the first few weeks of school with my kindergarten kids!

So, I find myself saying this at least 7 times a day (and that is if I only have to tell each class one time!) and sometimes more than 20 times a day! Ah, the life of a computer teacher!

A to Z Challenge: W is for W.

This final week of the A to Z Challenge has turned out to be a major challenge. As it is Wordless Wednesday, I had to go with the obvious for this letter. W is for W. Here are some of my favorite recent photos of my little man.

How can you not love a face like that?

A to Z Challenge: V is for Voice.

V is a letter I struggled with as there wasn't a baby product that immediately came to mind to review or discuss. Two words did come to mind and they are vision and voice. I took some time to think about these two words as they relate to motherhood and decided that V is for Voice.

When I say voice, I mean the voice I want to have as a mother. I often think about how I come across as a mother to the people around me. There is one area that comes immediately to my mind when I think about it and it is the way I chose to handle the medical care for my pregnancy and birth.

I know many people in my life perceived me as a little strange based solely on the fact that I chose to use a midwife and have a med-free, water birth. In fact, I didn't talk about my choice with too many people during my pregnancy unless they brought it up. I got tired of feeling like I had to defend my decision. I also got tired of hearing people make comments like, "Good luck with that," and asking questions like, "Well, you can always get an epidural if you need one, right?" The fact was that no, I couldn't have gotten an epidural unless I was transferred to the hospital. Plus, I never even wanted one. Many people also asked me all about the risks and what would happen if W or I needed help. I think they thought I was going to give birth out in the woods or something. Sorry, but I'm not quite that natural.

Now that I had a successful experience, I try and speak to people about it as much as possible. One thing I never understood about being pregnant was why so many women seemed to want to tell me their horror stories. To combat this I am determined to share my positive birth experience with any woman who will listen. That is the voice I want to be.

A to Z Challenge: U is for Used

One thing I got caught up in when planning for W's arrival was the excitement of researching baby gear and registering for it all. I've come to realize that there are many things that we could have saved a lot of money on by going the used route. Today U is for Used.

I really enjoyed doing all of the research for our major purchases. I enjoyed reading about different swings, pack n plays, bouncers, and car seats. I loved going online to compare prices and check which stores offered which items. I had a registry at Babies 'R Us and Target. There were some duplicate items on each registry in case someone went to one store over another. Let me say in advance that we were very blessed to get most of our big items at our showers. The grandparents went in together to buy W's nursery furniture as well. We will also get additional use out of them as we plan to have another child. Still, I've learned a little something about all of these things I just thought I had to have brand new.

I'll start with our bedding. I will admit that I still adore the bedding I chose for W even though he has yet to sleep in his own room. When he does, I will be removing the bumpers from the crib but he will still have the cute sheet!

I still love this bedding and it inspired his entire nursery but did I really need an entire bedding set? Probably not. I will say that the valance is on his window, the rug is on the floor, and the comforter hangs on the chair in his room. It all looks very nice. But the issue is that my aunt picked up a number of crib sheets at garage sales for less than a dollar each and they are in fabulous shape! More than once she called me because she had found bedding sets that were clean and in wonderful shape! Could I have saved some money in this area? Definitely! These days the bumpers and accessories rarely get used anyway. With all of that said, I still love W's bedding and his nursery!

Most baby gear can be purchased used and it great shape if you shop around. Garage sales are a big thing around here, including subdivisions that hold neighborhood sales. We also have a number of consignment shops that not only offer baby clothes but all sorts of gear too. Friends and family are also great resources!

We have gotten a car seat from family and I know that many people recommend against this but we are close to them and the car seat has never been in an accident and is not very old. It all depends on the source. No, I probably wouldn't be getting a used car seat on Craigslist, thank you very much!

We also got a booster seat for at the dining room table from a friend. My aunt found W's play gym at a garage sale for a quarter. It's not as deluxe as some I've seen in the store but he loves it and it did not cost $50! The play gym was one thing I didn't register for because I could never quite commit to the fact that they ranged in price from $40 - $80! W has used it a lot though so if we hadn't found a cheap one this might have been a piece of gear worth purchasing.

Another item I did not register for because I wasn't sure how I felt about it was the Bumbo. Well, my aunt found a used BebePod in impeccable shape at a garage sale and we have actually used it some. I don't see it getting a lot of use by us because his legs are so chunky now, but it has been good for having him sit outside with us. It was definitely worth picking up at garage sale prices!

One area I wish we had gone for something used is our swing. Originally, I registered for and received the MamaRoo. It was great when W was a tiny little guy. But as he got bigger it wasn't cutting it and in desperation I ordered a swing from Amazon one day. I did get a good price for what I was looking for but if I had waited a few more days I could have gotten to the consignment shop and may have saved more money. I paid about $90 for the Fisher Price Starlight Papasan Cradle Swing including shipping. I ordered it because I though it looked liked the fabric was more blue and it plugged in. Well, it turned out to be more of a light purple but the AC adapter feature has resulted in us never needing batteries for the swing!

The swing has proven to be a good purchase for us as W still uses it now. The MamaRoo is the item that didn't work out as well for us. It's one of those things I planned for that didn't work out quite like I anticipated! Live and learn! The baby will like what the baby likes!

Clothing is definitely an area where I could save more money but I will admit that it is also one of my weaknesses! I have some favorite stores and I love going out shopping for W! I will give myself some credit because I really love shopping for bargains and I rarely buy anything full price. Still, I could probably get a lot more if I went to garage sales or the consignment shop and looked for clothes!

Diapering is an area in which I went the used direction. For my newborn stash I purchased a number of diapers gently used, including all of our KL0s and our Thirsties Duo Diaper. They worked wonderfully for us and I had no complaints. They were as wonderful as all of the diapers I purchased new.

I think the thing to consider when deciding whether or not to go new or used is safety first. This is pretty obvious. After safety, I think it's important to try and thing about how long an item will get used. For example, we got an Infant to Toddler Rocker instead of a regular bouncy chair because it will last longer. W has spent a lot of time in it so it was definitely a good call. On the other hand, I am glad we did not buy a Bumbo brand new as we have gotten very little use out of it!

I'm sure it all balances out in the end but I sure do enjoy saving money when I can. Looking back over my pregnancy I can see many ways I could have saved money if I had been able to get over the excitement of the new baby!

A to Z Challenge: T is for Tiny

T is for Tiny. Tiny diapers! I have discussed what we used for our newborn stage, but I also did a lot of research before making my decisions and I ran across a number of options. Many people recommended prefolds with covers so I bought some of those when Little Lions was having a seconds sale and didn't end up using them. The rest of our newborn stash consisted of fitteds and covers as well as AIOs and a few pockets. I'll begin with the diapers that worked very well for us when W was tiny.

We had our bumGenius AIOs in size x-small and then in size small. These were so easy to use although they took a while to dry.

Our other AIOs were our Lil' Joeys. I liked these very early because they fit so well. They did have limited use and were the first to leak as he grew out of them. Still, they were wonderful for the first few weeks! Like the bumGenius, they took a good amount of time to dry.

We also had one Thirsties Duo Diaper size 1. I loved the gussets on the diaper and the fact that it also had a pocket that I could use to increase the absorbency if needed (similar to the small bumGenius AIOs. We only ever used it as an AIO though it did dry faster than the others due to the pocket.

We also used Kissaluvs size 0 fitteds. These worked great for us and only got put on backwards once!

And the old style Thirsties Fab Fitteds. I definitely liked these because they had aplix instead of snaps!

We covered both of those with Thirsties Duo Wraps size 1 and never had a leak. The Duo Wraps are the got to covers in this house!

We had one small Happy Heiny pocket in black. It was one of just a few pockets that fit when he was a newborn.

We also had two AppleCheeks envelope covers in size 1 that worked well from the beginning. These were an easy to use pocket system so they also dried very quickly! I liked these because we could have used them as extra covers for fitteds as well!

These were some of the diapers I had read about during my research and I will admit that a few, such as the AppleCheeks, were just diapers I bought during a great sale. I got them for half off and it was back at the beginning of my shopping for diapers so I was very excited. Once W was here, I was even more pleased because they worked from very early on and fit him for quite a while.

Here are some of the other diapers I saw recommended as I researched for our stash. Some of them are so adorable and I bet they are very cute in person! Yes, I also have a soft spot for tiny little cloth diapers!

I recently discovered CutiePoops and they are so cute! They offer a newborn size that claims to fit up to 12 pounds. If you want adorable in a tiny diaper, I think CutiePoops is the one!

I recently bought a newborn fitted from Bum Covered Diapers as a gift for a friend. While I haven't had a chance to use it since it isn't for me and I don't have a newborn, it does look like the sizing will be perfect!

I've seen many people recommend Proraps covers for the newborn stage. They are affordable and they come in preemie and newborn sizes!

I recently discovered that Bummis makes a Tini Fit diaper (and they have a red and orange color)! I would be interested to see how these work for a newborn as I know many like the Bummis covers for the newborn stage!

I've also seen many people recommend the Bummis Whisper Wrap covers for the newborn stage and they have some adorable prints!

I know that there are probably a lot of other options when it comes to building a newborn stash, especially if you are willing to look into WAHM products. I know many people debate using disposables until the baby gets big enough for one size diapers but I am personally very glad that we got a newborn stash that allowed me to begin early with W!

A to Z Challenge: S is for Stars & Stripes

S got me caught up a bit when it came to staying with my cloth diaper theme for the week. I was going to go with S is for Snap-in and highlight systems with snap in inserts but I really wanted to try and stay with something that had to do with color or design so... S is for Stars & Stripes!

We do not own any diapers with stars on them although I would love to have one (or more)! We do have one striped diaper and we've had issues with it leaking so that is a bummer because it is minky too! (Ooh... I could have done S is for Soft and focused on minky!) Anyway, I wish more diaper makers offered prints that featured stars or stripes because they really are pretty cute.

I featured our striped Kawaii Snazzy Minky earlier this week on the P is for Prints post. It's definitely cute and it's definitely soft!

Thirsties offers Duo Diapers and Duo Wraps in the Cool Stripes and Warm Stripes prints!

GroVia used to offer two shells with stripes, including the Seaside Stripe.

CuteyBaby has some great blue stripes. This print is called Nantucket Stripe.

Nifty Nappy also had a wonderful Spring Stripe print.

I'm sure there are many other stripes out there and if you find a great one I would love to see it! I love stripes (and polka dots too) but stars can get me even faster. They are so cute. Here are a few great diapers I found that feature stars!

Blueberry offers a pocket diaper in this great Stars print!

This amazing diaper is from Bummis!

The green stars is another print available from Kawaii. They definitely have some cute (and affordable) prints!

I love all of the stars and stripes I found and I will be on the lookout for more! These prints test my resilience! We do not need diapers right now, no we do not! If I keep telling myself that maybe I will be able to resist temptation!



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A to Z Challenge: R is for Red.

Sticking with the cloth diaper theme for the week, today R is for Red diapers! Red is another one of those diaper colors that I adore. The list of my favorite colors includes orange, red, black, gray, and brown. I also love pinks but we're not going down that road yet! Maybe in the future, but for now I will stick with my neutral colors.

On to the red diapers! I own just one red diaper and it is actually a bit large for W right now so he hasn't gotten to wear it. I own a red Happy Heiny pocket. I found some Happy Heinys on sale a few weeks ago and they only had the red in large but I wanted it! W is in size medium right now so we have a while before it will fit him but I still love knowing that it's in our stash!

There are plenty of other red diapers out there that have me drooling! Let's see a few and maybe I'll be able to spread the red diaper love!

Envibum has a red MINKY diaper! Be still my heart! Envibum is a wonderful company because every diaper gives back through a donation to a charitable organization!

AppleCheeks offers a diaper in crimson red. We had two AppleCheeks as part of our newborn/smaller stash and I really liked them! They fit W very early!

Fuzzibunz in watermelon! I haven't had a chance to use any Fuzzibunz so I'm not sure if this is a true red but I love the name!

Rumparooz and Lil' Joeys are available in crimson.

This is just a small selection of red diapers on the market and I have seen a number of adorable red diapers on Etsy and Hyena cart. One worry I have about red diapers is washing with the rest of my diapers. I have a fear that they will turn the rest of my diapers some shade of pink! I did wash our Happy Heiny alone at first but I will probably end up throwing it in with the rest once it's in the rotation!

A to Z Challenge: Q is for Qtie Pie (Wordless Wednesday)

Yes, I'm cheating a bit but Q is for my little Qtie Pie!

A to Z Challenge: P is for Prints

Continuing with the diaper theme this week, P is for Prints. One of the perks of using cloth is the adorable prints that are available! When I first began researching when I was pregnant, I admit that I got a little jealous because I was having a little boy and there were so many more cute prints for girls! But that has changed in the past year since I began looking into using cloth. I only have a few diapers in prints and would definitely love to have more if I could justify buying more diapers. If no one has warned you yet, I will go ahead and do it. Buying cloth diapers is very addictive! Even though I don't need more diapers, I am always tempted to buy more when I spot a good deal or see a new cute diaper! But anyway, back to the prints! We have a Thirsties Duo Wrap, a GroVia Hybrid, two Kawaii Snazzy Minkys, and a Sunbaby 3.0.


Our Thirsties Duo Wrap is in the wonderful Blackbird print. I also love the Cool Stripes print as well as the more girly prints.

Our GroVia Hybrid Shell is the Owls print, which I adore. They also offer an airplane print that is very original!

Our Kawaii Snazzy Minkys are two different prints and I'm fairly sure neither are available any longer.

Finally, we have a Sunbaby 3.0.

For the second five, I have tried to narrow it down to five diapers with prints that I would love to have in my stash! Of course, there are many, many more out there as it seems like almost every diaper line now features at least a print or two.

I love the Giraffe prints that Best Bottom offers!

Envibum has recently added some prints and I like them all. The cherry print is pretty cute!

I know I speak highly of Happy Heinys all of the time, but they have some great prints that I would love to have! I like the Glow in the Dark Skulls, but they also have great prints like Groovy Circles!

Blueberry Diapers has blue, green, and pink camo in minky!

And one of the first prints I ever fell in love with (and I'm not sure why I don't have one) is Rumparooz Gumball! They also have some great new prints I would love to get my hands on.

Of course, this was just a small sample of the wonderful prints that are available and if you buying WAHM diapers, the print possibilities seem to be endless! Just another perk of going the cloth diaper route!