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How Cute Are These Little Guys?  

Posted by: Jenna in ,

I love my new cloth diapers! They come in adorable colors-- I chose the clementine (orange) and the Zinnia (pink). They are so trim and look so much like disposables. The only difference is you throw them in the washer and dryer after each use-- and I'll NEVER run out of diapers! Whoohoo!
The inside of the diaper is SO similar to a disposable. It's 2 thick, absorbant layers of organic cotton that are attached to the diaper-- so no stuffing, no liners, etc. Just snap on the diaper and you're ready to go! These diapers are also available with velcro tabs, but I like the snaps better. Wow, I'm realizing that I sound like a sales lady...I guess this is just something that I have been researching for 5 months now so I like sharing what I've learned.

So, yesterday I found out that the cloth diapers I want are being discontinued, therefore, they are on sale! Apparently, Cotton Babies (the company that makes Bum Genius) are releasing a new product today that is bigger and better than the type of diaper I originally wanted. That's all good and well by me, but I wasn't about to pass up a fantastic deal on the old diapers! Plus, I figure the new diapers will be on back order for a while and will be pretty pricey at first. Anyhoo, so I decided to buy a bundle pack of the Bum Genius 3.0 One-Size since Cotton Babies was running a buy 5 get 1 free sale. Plus, I had a coupon for 5% off so I thought I got a pretty good deal!

I also bought a few cloth diapers from a local baby boutique here in town-- pictured above. They are different than the bundle pack (b/c they have liners built in, have snaps, and are organic) I bought online and are much more expensive. I wanted to show them to Josiah before I bought the ones online so he could see if he REALLY wanted to do cloth. He liked them a lot and agreed that we should buy a few each month to space out the initial investment.

I really wish more people would be open to the advantages of cloth diapering instead of just writing them off as disgusting and too much work. If you really take the time to research you will find that there are a lot of myths out there about cloth, such as:

Myth #1: cloth diapers are too much work.
--I can understand this argument if you are a working mom, but if you stay home with your baby it is one of the best ways to save money for your family! It really isn't a big deal to throw in a few extra loads of laundry a week. The Bum Genius can go in the washer AND the dryer, just like normal laundry...and you use half the detergent of a normal load of laundry!

Myth #2: cloth diapers are too messy
-- With the new technology that is out nowadays, they really aren't any messier than disposable diapers. The only thing that is different is once the baby is on solid foods you have to dump the poop in the toilet, but the lining of the cloth diaper is microfiber so the poop literally just shakes off-- no poopy hands or rinsing required! Breast-fed babies have poop that is water soluble, so you just throw those dirty diapers straight in the wash and they come out good as new. In between washes you just use a lined rubber trash bin (you can get them at walmart) with a lid and once the bin is full you take the bag out and empty all the diapers straight into the washing machine. No big deal! For times when you are on vacation, on the go, have a diarrhea baby, or even just for night use-- you can use disposable diapers. You will still end up saving THOUSANDS of dollars by using cloth. Even with coupons or generic diapers, disposables will still end up costing the average couple $1600- $2500 in 3 years. Cloth diapers cost around $300 for the total investment.

Myth #3: cloth diapers are too bulky
-- not anymore! Once again, with all the new technology cloth diapers are trimmer than ever and have a comparable fit to disposable diapers.

Some benefits of cloth diapers:
-- help prevent diaper rash (parents who cloth diaper consistently report that diaper rash is a non-issue for them)
-- less blow outs (blow-outs are pretty much non-existent for babies who wear cloth)
-- super absorbent, which could mean less diaper changes!
-- save tons of money
-- eco friendly (not a big concern for me personally, but I thought I'd just throw that on the list)
-- no chemicals on your baby's sensitive little bum bum!
-- never run out of diapers, just go wash a few and you're good to go
-- can be reused for additional children, which means you save even more money!

Anyways, I'll get off my soap box now. Hope you enjoyed my review on cloth diapers. I'll keep you all posted once we start using them with Greenlee. We plan on starting her once she weighs 10lbs :)

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Price Check Please!  

Posted by: Jenna in

For those of you who don't know, I have been agonizing over which stroller to buy for baby Greenlee since I first found out I was pregnant. I have changed my mind at least 3 or 4 times-- constantly adding and deleting travel systems and strollers from our registry. We never really thought anyone would buy us a stroller or a carseat because those are such expensive items, so we've been saving for a while now. I finally decided I wanted a travel system combo but the one we wanted was only available online so I was hesitant to buy it without trying it out first. Well, a few weeks ago I found a carseat at Babies-R-Us that I really liked-- unfortunately no stroller to match-- but it was going to be discontinued so there were only a few left. I knew I had to make a decision fast, so Josiah and I finally decided that we would just buy the carseat and worry about a stroller later-- it was on clearance so it was a super good deal. Anyways, so tonight I went to Babies-R-Us ready to buy this carseat, but then I saw a Chicco travel system on clearance as well. I wanted the Chicco from the very beginning of my stroller search but decided early on that it was just too expensive. The clearance price said $259.99 (usually these travel systems run about $300). I had a 20% off coupon with me and a couple gift cards so I thought I would at least take it to the register to see what the final price would be. I also had the other carseat in my hand as well to check that price too. First, the carseat rang up as $71 and I thought that was a great deal because it had originally been $150. Then, the lady rang up the travel system and it came up as $155 with my coupon!!! I seriously couldn't believe the steal this was and quickly opted for the travel system versus the carseat. With my gift cards I ended up paying even less and was so thrilled that I walked out with a high quality stroller AND carseat for my sweet baby girl. Josiah was happy too because we couldn't have even bought a cheapie stroller/carseat for the price I paid. Lesson learned-- always double check the clearance price on items even if the sale price tag says "final price." The picture above is of my "prize"...the pattern is called Luna and I just love it. It's very gender neutral and I think Greenlee will love it too :)

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24 Weeks and Growing...  

Posted by: Jenna in


Here are some new pics of baby Greenlee (at 24 weeks) She's getting so big-- or maybe I'm the one who is getting big! Either way, she weighs over a pound and a half now, which reflects in her increasingly strong kicks. Some days she is more active than others, and that's just fine with me. I often set my cell phone on my belly and it will shake when she kicks...it's a fun little game I like to play with her. I'm sure eventually she will knock the phone off my belly completely! One new symptom I have been experiencing is back pain. Josiah hates to see me in pain so he went out and bought me a leather recliner last weekend-- what an incredible husband and daddy he is to me and Greenlee!! The recliner has helped a lot...at the end of the day I try to relax in it for an hour or so and it always helps my back feel better. My baby shower is in 2 weeks, which I'm so excited about! Then, 2 weeks later I leave for West Palm Beach to visit Emily and the kids. The summer is going to fly by and then before we know it Greenlee will be here! 15 more weeks to go :)

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Baby Greenlee in 3D!  

Posted by: Jenna in

Greenlee at 23 weeks and 2 days old. I think she already looks like her daddy :)
Happy Father's Day Josiah!!

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More Goodies  

Posted by: Jenna in





Not sure how all these pictures got arranged like this, but OK. Anyways, the picture of the huge belly is me of course, at 22 1/2 weeks. I feel like she has seriously doubled in size in just 2 weeks-- or maybe I'm the one who has double in size-- not sure! I had a check-up this week and had gained like 7 lbs since my last check-up (1 month ago) so my doctor wants me to try to slow things down a little. I walk around 3-4 times a week already and don't eat terribly, but there is always room for improvement! So my goal is to just try to cut out the majority of sweets from my diet and try to lay off some of the carbs. Also, I'm going to try to walk more like 5 times a week instead of just 3 or 4. We'll see if that slows things down-- I'll let you know how it goes! The other picture is of all the goodies my mom has bought Greenlee since we found out the gender. She has a whole drawer full ADORABLE clothes already...I can't wait for her to wear them. I've also bought her a few things-- like the onesie that says "Daddy's Princess"-- Josiah always jokingly calls her that so I couldn't help but buy it when I saw it at the store on sale. I also bought her the hair bow holder from Etsy.com. It is a website comparable to ebay, but everything is hand crafted by the sellers, which is so neat. Her grandma (Nani) already started her a hair bow collection as well!!

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Cloth Diapers!!  

Posted by: Jenna in ,


Yes, it's true, Josiah and I are considering using cloth diapers instead of the conventional disposables. I have been researching the pros and cons of cloth diapers since I first found out that I was pregnant, and so far I am feeling pretty confident that they can save us a good deal of money in the long run (under $300 vs. $1500+ from birth to 2 years). What I've decided to do is add half a dozen of the diapers to our baby registry, which should be enough to do a "trial run" and see if we like using them or not. We have chosen to try out the Bum Genius brand, pictured above. They come in all different colors and have an adjustable snap system, which allow the diaper to grow with the baby. Just one single diaper will fit an infant from birth all the way to 35 lbs. So, we could get away with buying a dozen diapers and using those same diapers from the time Greenlee is born, until she is potty trained...AND reuse them for our next baby. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me. The one downside is having to wash diapers every day or every other day. But, to me it would be worth it to save a few thousand dollars! Currently, my mom has stocked us up on enough disposables to last us the first 3 months of Greenlee's life (can you tell she is not too fond of the cloth idea?), so we will use those up first, and then start her on the cloth diapers. Grandma Jane will be so proud when she reads this post-- she cloth diapered all of her children! But, thankfully, cloth diapers have come a long way in 27 years and they are much more high-tech now! They even have disposable/flushable liners which we plan on using. You can check those out on my Amazon wishlist.

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Baby Registry  

Posted by: Jenna in

We have a lot of out-of-town friends and family who are wanting to know what we need for baby Greenlee. We felt the best way to communicate our needs for our new addition was by creating a baby registry. Registries are easy to use and can be accessed via internet or in the actual store. We chose to register at both Target and Babies-R-Us. We put a lot of smaller things that we need on the Target registry, and everything else can be found at Babies-R-Us. I love Babies-R-Us because they are always running specials, sending out 15-20% off coupons, and they ALWAYS have free shipping on orders over $100 or more. We tried very hard to make sure most of the items we need are available both online or in stores, but unfortunately a couple things are only available online. Thank you so much for helping us get started with this new, but expensive chapter in our lives! We are so thankful for the generosity and support of our loved ones! Please feel free to check out all of Greenlee's goodies by clicking on the following links:

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

https://www.target.com/registry/baby/A5JSQS8O6S72/guestview

If for some reason the links do not work, you can simply access the registries by going to target.com or babiesrus.com and choosing the "search for registry" option.


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