Cottonbabies

I've had a few friends ask me about cloth diapering so I thought I'd share the info here. Also, I'm using this link to enter a contest. :)
Here's the email I just sent one friend.

I shop pretty much exclusively through cottonbabies.com which is the manufacturer for the type that I use- the FLIP diapers. I decided to purchase through them because they have a guarantee for like 30 days or so. I've also heard that if you have problems with the product, they'll back them up ONLY if they're purchased directly from them. They also offer free shipping. Bonus. :) So far, they've given me great customer service, but I just had a snap break on a diaper so I'll let you know how that works for me. I'm calling them tomorrow.

I do use the diaper sprayer and I think it's a must for older babies, but it's something you can put off buying for a while. You don't need to rinse out diapers until the baby is eating solid foods (around 6 months old), as far as I've heard. And so far with Stella, the liquid poo is all soaked into the diaper and washes out in the washing machine. You use the sprayer for when they have solid chunks of poo that are in the diaper. Those need to be put down the toilet and the sprayer helps immensely with that. If Scarlett has an accident, I use the sprayer and don't have to get my hands in the business. :)

I store the dirty diapers in a tall kitchen garbage can with a Planet Wise diaper pail liner in it. They come in a million colors and so far it's been great, I just wash it about every other time I wash diapers. Or if there's a particularly gross poopy diaper I'll wash the liner every time. Before I had that, I just used garbage bags as liners, but then you're throwing away a garbage bag each time. Also, I don't put a lid on my diaper pail and it's sitting in the middle of my dining/living room and it doesn't smell at all. I have noticed in the past that if I have a lid on it, when I open the lid it smells, but without the lid the odor seems to dissipate.

I will tell you that I've had to strip my diapers quite often (like once a month or so) to keep the smelliness at bay. That just means that I wash them on hot with a half of a cup of bleach and a tablespoon of dawn dish soap and then do 3 rinse cycles. That seems to keep the diapers smelling clean. Otherwise, the detergent builds up over time and then the baby's pee reacts to the build-up and makes a strong ammonia smell which also burns the baby's bum. Not fun. And you have to use a special detergent with the diapers- I use Country Save and I just use 1 tbsp per load so the box of detergent will last me forever.

To wash the diapers I do the following: cold wash with detergent, hot wash without detergent, extra rinse. Then I hang the diaper covers to dry and either hang or machine-dry the inserts- depending on how hot it is outside.

FYI, I have 7 covers and maybe 30 or so liners (which is way too many). I'm using them on both Scarlett and Stella and have to laundry every day or every other day. If I were just doing Stella, I would probably get by washing every other day or every 3. For one baby, I would suggest 4-6 covers and 12 or more liners. The more you have the less often you need to do laundry, but you don't want to do laundry too infrequently or you'll have stinky diapers. They shouldn't sit for more than 2 or 3 days. Ew. With a baby Stella's age you would probably use 6-10 liners per day and 2-3 covers. It seems like at least once during the day she poops enough to soil a cover and then I always want a clean one on her for night.

You'll also want a wet-bag to put in your diaper bag, and I try to always keep an extra cover in my diaper bag so I don't accidently forget. Or you can just keep a few disposable diapers in your diaper bag. But you need a wet-bag for the dirty ones. In a pinch I've used a ziplock, but again then you have to throw it away and make waste. It would probably be a cost effective solution though. You'd have to use a lot of ziplocks to make up the $15 wetbag!

I would consider buying 2 of the flip daypacks http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=139&products_id=2156

I have also tried the Bumgenius Pocket diapers and I didn't like them at all. They're much more expensive and you need way more diapers because you have to change the whole diaper each time, rather than with the flips I can just change the liner if the diaper is poo-free. Plus, Flips have snaps which are nice because Scarlett can undo velcro and the velcro snagged her clothes. Boo.

Trust me, I did TONS of research. Including borrowing a friends stash of diapers for 3 weeks.

Any more questions? Oh- and you can also make your own baby wipes by cutting flannel into "wipes" and soaking them in a water/baby soap solution. They work great and then you can just throw them into the wash with the diapers. Smart!

The End.

I think I'm going to have to stop blogging here (I've done such a good job lately, anyway) and start focusing my efforts more fully on my photography blog.

So, go here instead. . . .

www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog

Preview for Karina

I had a family shoot this weekend with the Calderwoods. Here is my absolute fave. If you want to see the rest of the preview, you'll have to go to my website blog www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog

What to do. . .

Well, I stink at blogging lately anyway. . . but I'm not sure how to handle the two blogs thing.

Anyway, I just posted a pic of Scarlett in my most recent craig's list find.

$5. Not too shabby. Well, it is technically shabby chic, but . . .

http://www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog/

We've moved! (like 2 weeks ago)

Okay, you all know how it is when you move. The world stops turning and you are without the internet and you do nothing but un-pack. So that's my excuse.

Funny/horrible story, though. We had our place in Spokane (not Seattle to those of you who are a bit confused) all picked out months ago. It was a manufactured home in a little village of mfh's off the highway that leads to Clarkston. (think Sonary Crest if you're from c-town) Everything was set up for us to move in on Sunday night the 7th. Our mail was being forwarded, our address had been changed on all the major credit cards, etc. When we got to the trailer court (let's be honest- that's what it was) however, we decided that there was no way in heck we could live there. No sidewalks, trailers crammed in so close that you could spit through your neighbor's window, no yard, the list goes on. Plus, the place was so tiny that we'd have to get a storage unit. So we broke down and got a hotel that night and started the hunt for a house in the morning at 9 am. By 5 or so that night we were desperate and deeply discouraged. Every place we had seen in our price range either smelled like cat pee or was located in the neighborhood lovingly reffered to as "Felony Flats". So we broke and got an apartment in a massive complex. We're one floor up, but our staircase is inside the house rather than a shared stairway outside. They're super clean and nice though, and no cat pee smell. :)

Other than that, things are starting to get a bit more normal. We camped all last week in BC and it was amazing. I'll post pics when we get a wireless card for our desktop.

Sorry for the boring post. :)

Who'da known.

Here's the explanation. Katie was my best friend from 6th-8th grade. Her father re-married and she moved away before freshman year. We were both heart-broken. There had never been two better girlfriends. As high school went on, we lost touch of each other and more than 10 years later, met up again on facebook. To our surprise, we were practically neighbors. Well, she lives in Portland. Anyway she is a photographer, a designer-fabric lover, and most importantly- she is still the sweet, fun, and mellow yin to my yang. After hanging out for the last few months, we feel as if we never lost touch. And I think we are each thanking our creator for that tender mercy.

This post is really about this though: Katie found an old yearbook from eighth grade and we could hardly believe what Brad had written in it. (pink pen, left margin, click to make it bigger)

If you still can't read it for yourself, this is what it says.

"Thanks for trying with Rendy but I guess when you're a loser like me you can't get the good one like Rendy."

So as I count my blessings tonight, I'll remember a friendship that will span across decades, and a spouse who has always considered me to be a catch. I love you both!