For the Sparrows

Last week while the girls napped I decided to break out some old recyclables and make a bird feeder to hang on the front “mini” tree. I enjoyed hearing the birds outside the window, announcing their Spring affairs, when waking earlier in the week and thought I would encourage their return.

It was nice to reflect on God caring for the sparrows (Luke 12:6-7) being a reminder for us never to worry because He will care for us so much more. I grabbed an old marshmallow fluff jar (not a common item in our household, but left over from a youth event much to the delight of two little girls to enjoy in lunchtime sandwiches), Popsicle sticks from the dollar store, Elmer’s glue, and some colored paper clips. And out popped this lovely creation.

– Grateful for the moment of “rest” found in creating.

– For the sparrows.

March 24, 2012 0

Costly Diapering?

**** Warning: This post has potentially too much information for the non-cloth-diaper enjoying crowd. For those who would like to read and learn, I have included this post. For those who couldn’t care less, you will be bored and potentially overwhelmed so feel free to find another time filler for today. 😉

So since I’m a borderline dork when it comes to frugality and practicality, I decided to do some math today while my diapers dried. Now, I don’t claim to be a math major (HA!) but I can add and subtract with use of a calculator. 😉

Back in December we decided to give cloth diapers a try. Abi’s little bum had had enough of disposables and the diaper rash thereof so we decided to stop spending so much in diaper rash cremes and making poor Abi suffer and instead to try my sister in law’s, at the time, vacant stash of cloth diapers. Now we are well aware that the ability to try out and then decided what kind of cloth diapers fits your family best cuts the initial cloth diapering cost down HUGELY, but I also found in my research a few offers to try cloth diapering for a $25 deposit for a month to come to a similar family decision on likes/dislikes and practicality.

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Let me take a break to define helpful vocabulary in the following posts: We use a pocket diaper for nighttime, nap time and Daddy’s favorite/babysitter needs. A pocket diaper has 1-2 inserts (depending on age of child/volume of pee) that slide into the pocket and do not require a separate cover to be worn in the diaper. A pocket diaper looks and functions like a disposable diaper and, thus, is most appreciated by the disposable-diaper-friendly world. A pocket diaper requires the insert to be removed prior to washing and the insert to be dried in the dryer whereas the shell can be line-dried. A pocket diaper is considered a “premium” diaper and usually ranges around $15-$20 new from in the U.S., $5 new from out of the U.S. and $5 used inside the U.S. for a quality pocket diaper that will last for multiple kids. A pocket diaper can come size-specific or one-size to snap down for newborn through toddler (potty training) size. We prefer the one-size method since it is the most economical. And we also prefer a pocket diaper with an additional hip snap (second single snap on the diaper flap) to adjust leg size and make for a better fit. Pocket diapers also come in snap or velcro for the top diaper attachment around the hips. We prefer snap closure on the pocket diapers since Abi has quickly figured out how to unvelcro (probably not a word, but whatever) pocket diapers at night/nap (eeek!). We have 14 one-size pocket diapers. This is a one-size pocket diaper:

A prefold is a classic cloth diaper which requires pins or a snappi (substitution for pins) to hold the diaper in it’s shape around the baby. You can reuse snappies with diaper changes. We have 2 snappies.

A prefold can be folded in many different ways to specialize the shape, fit and needs of the baby (ex. different folds can be used for boys vs. girls, heavy wetters vs. normal wetters, and pooping vs. non-pooping). A prefold requires a cover or else the baby will wet their clothing or your carpet. A prefold can come in different sizes (newborn, infant, toddler, large toddler), but can be as simple as just 2 sizes: infant (7-15lbs) and toddler (16-30lbs). We have 10 toddler-sized prefolds. This is a prefold:

A cover is only needed for a prefold and can come size-specific or in a one-size. We prefer the one-size. The top closure system comes in snap or velro. We prefer velcro due to a better fit in varying hip sizes and Abi being too busy in the daytime to unvelcro her cover. We have two one-sized covers and one large cover. This is a one-size cover that can be snapped down to baby’s size for newborn through toddler:

So our total diaper count for our stash is 24 diapers (pockets and prefolds/snappies/covers) which gets us 2 days worth of diapering and a few left overs while I wash diapers.

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Okay…. now back to the one-sided conversation:

To me, cloth diapering is less an environmental issue (though it does have wonderful perks) and more of a cost-effective, practical and reality issue. If you cannot put forth money up front, cloth diapering may not be for you. If you cannot keep up with your current loads of laundry and have no desire to, cloth diapering may not be for you. If you hate handling poops and pees, cloth diapering may not be for you (because poops and pees that have sit for even 24 hours in wait for the laundry are smelly business – though you don’t have to stink balm the house).

So with the grace of Matt’s “we can try it” encouragement, we stepped into the unknown of cloth diapering. Abi’s rash immediately disappeared, though my sensitive skinned baby still has rash bouts when she passes a silent poop and does not inform us until we find it an hour later. Any kid sitting in poop with sensitive skin will rash. And Abi’s a unique skinned baby. Diaper rash for us disappears w/o creme in 24 hours with cloth diaper airing and more frequent changes [10-12 vs 8] until rash is gone. With disposable diapers Abi had a blistering rash for 1 to 2 weeks with continual diaper rash creme application.

It took us a month to get it together – wish I would have researched “things I would have loved to know then that I know now” topics about cloth diapering and I could have avoided our figuring out soap to diaper quantity, laundering guessing, and some general “how to”s. The reality of cloth diapering, though, is that you need to know what you want (ex. how frequently do I want to change a diaper and how realistic is my want?) and what you can tolerate (ex. how often do I want to wash my diapers and be tied to the whole laundering process?) and then look for the diapers and stash that best fits that need.

Some things are trial and error, especially if you have a heavy wetter. So it’s nice to have a starter kit or borrow some diapers from a friend who has different kinds. Or buy small amounts (1-2) of different kinds of second-hand diapers to figure out what works well for you. I would not suggest investing solely in one type of diaper, especially if you’ve never used that diaper before. I bought many second-hand diapers from a lady who did just that and have seen many posts from likewise sellers.

So I sat down to do the math today, like I was saying earlier, and came up with these numbers from buying off-brand disposable wipes and Huggies snug and dry (basic line of diaper) diapers (since that was the only diaper that was least rashy on Abi and produced the greatest bang-for-your-buck coupons).

*** Matt caught my math error in wipes calculations and I have adjusted the costs due to my error. ***

Wipes per month cost us approximately $18.00 (1 box of 556 count is $12.00 cheapest we have found). This doesn’t seem too bad and costs a total of $216.00 per year. That’s presuming you are wiping only one child, using a box (556+ count) and a half of wipes per month (which is what we were using when adding in boogey-nose wipes and restaurant-table wipes, etc).

Diapers per month cost us $51.38 presuming we could find some coupons and buy the largest sized box of 156 diapers (or buy the smaller boxes with more coupons = more money savings). That’s a total of $616.50 a year and I’m not adding in the up to $8/6 oz bottle of diaper rash creme that can be added on the top to the diapering cost.

Total wipes and diaper costs are $832.50 a year for one child (if you don’t have to buy diaper rash cremes at all).

Now, our initial diaper stash we have put at most to total $175 between diapers, inserts, laundry soap ($5 every 3 months – you only use a TBSP per load), homemade wipes solution (I just found it more practical and cost effective to cut up and sew together old receiving blankets and wipe Abi with that in a solution of baby oil, lotion and baby wash which I can throw into the wet/dry bag and wash with my diapers vs finding a separate trash can for just the wipe and not knowing if the wipe is causing a diaper rash or not for sensitive skinned baby), clothes line/clothespins (used previously owned white string-stuff and $1 for 50 clothespins), wet/dry bag (transports diapers home when out – you could use a plastic grocery bag, but we prefer an odor-shut-out bag that is washable), trashcan liner (for trash can when diapers are waiting for wash day), $2 trash can from thrift store, second-hand diapers/diaper covers, and I don’t think I forgot anything else in the equation. I can only count $150 that we’ve spent thus far, but I’ll add it all up to $175 to be generous and realistic (since my memory’s not 110%).

The ongoing cloth diapering cost is $5 per 3 months of Purex Free and Clear detergent (the cheapest cloth diaper safe detergent) so that equals $20 per year in detergent alone. Then there is the monthly cost of $4.92 ($1.64 per bottle for off-brand baby safe baby wash, baby oil and baby lotion to make wipes solution) that we choose to make to use cloth wipes so that’s $59.04 per year for wipes. ***You could just use water instead of a cloth diaper solution with wipes, but we choose to spoil our little Abi (and future little ones) with a whopping &59.04 per year. I know, I know… we’re really luxurious over here. 😉
So that’s a total of $79.01 to cloth diaper a child per year.

So this year alone we will have saved $578.49 for diapering Abi.

Now, due to the age breakdown of our kids and the little one on the way, Abi could still be using her toddler diapers when peanut 3 comes to join our family. Since we bought all-in-one diapers to save on cost (even if peanut’s trousers are a little bulky initially) we can use many of the same diapers since our stash allows for 14 diapers a day with me washing diapers every 2 days and Abi only uses 8. Since a newbie uses at least 14/day and will not fit into Abi’s toddler-sized prefolds, we will be looking at adding an additional $50 to the total spent on the whole cloth diapering project. Since $50 is what we spent per month on disposable diapers, a one-time $50 investment is looking nice. Abi will also be out of her toddler prefolds when baby needs them so we’ll not need to double anything else in our stash. And my guess of $50 is a bit high since most entire stashes of newborn/infant prefolds are being sold for $20 secondhand. But I am also taking into consideration that the diaper covers Abi wears cannot also be worn at the same time as newborn so we’ll need to invest in a few more covers to get the job done. While a few more covers will not get us to $30 I am taking into consideration that I may need to add a few more wipes to our stash ($0.50 at the thrift store for a receiving blanket that makes 7-8 wipes) and making some potty training pants could be helpful for Abi in the future though not necessary.

Adding that $50 to the ongoing cost to cloth diaper a child (x 0.5 because it is cheaper to buy in bulk and Abi will not be diapered for the full year) would make $168.52 for the year.

So that’ll make our next year savings at $663.98 to diaper 2 children (one newborn to 1 year and one in late toddlerhood).

The following year (kid 3 age 1-2) we’ll save $753.49.

So that’ll put our total savings over 3 years to be $1,995.96.

Does time, labor and effort play into the cost? Certainly! I’m not going to pretend like the laundry is not an extra effort. I am doing one extra load of laundry every two days. It does take time – a cycle and a half in the washer and a full two-three cycles in the dryer for the inserts/wipes (the night inserts take the longest to dry) plus a half hour of drying outside on the line for the diaper covers/shells or over the night for the covers/shells or 40 minutes in the dryer on low heat. It does take me at least 4 hours from start to fold to wash/dry my diapers. It takes time. It takes effort and work.

And so does my other laundry. And the house chores. And investing in the kids. And homeschooling.

Cloth diapering is not for everyone. It is work. It costs up front. And it can be time consuming and frustrating until you figure out what works for everyone who’ll be diapering the child or children. Matt has preferences in the cloth diapering world, and I do my best to cater to them because I want him to change baby’s diapers too. 😉 And he has also been very gracious and flexible in learning what is best for our daughter. I am grateful because not only can I do the math of savings as a result of cloth diapering, but I can also provide the best for Abi, and lil apple-sized invader (we don’t know gender yet).

There is much to think about in the world of cloth diapering, but the numbers do add up nicely in your favor. But for us, cloth diapering is a helpful, realistic, practical, and cost-effective method to provide the best diapering options for our family. Also has the unexpected added bonus of helping me keep up on the other laundry too. 😉

March 20, 2012 0

Outside!

We have spent some good time outside over the past few days enjoying the beautiful weather and soaking in the joys of

being barefoot outdoors (Mommy’s favorite).

Yesterday we made recycled milk jug bird feeders. Rachael picked brown for the paint color, which initially I thought to be kinda ugly, but shrugged and pulled it out. Post-project I think it cute because our milk jugs look like they’re filled with chocolate milk. =) We also used colored paperclips for the “string.”

With proper supervision,

We took our painting joys outdoors to the plastic picnic table I got for $2 at a garage sale last year. Old shirts made nice paint smocks.

Little one needed a hair tie to keep from tripping. =)

Then I handed them the paint brushes (strategically picking a smaller brush for the little one) and gave them one rule, “Paint the inside, not the outside.” Look at the concentration.

“Inside, not outside,” was the preschooler and toddler chant for the first five minutes of painting.

We used non-toxic and washable paint on the inside so should some rain water get in, we won’t kill the very Snow White friends we were intending to feed. I had an image of bird carcasses littering the yard and the cats losing all control and felt assured in my paint selection. =)

And also this was the reason I used washable, non-toxic paint.

They seemed to highly enjoy the project.

And they did a great job keeping the paint inside the milk jugs, with only a few splotches on skin and table.

Later we found some time to do sidewalk chalk before the late morning rain clouds approached.

Fill and dump mischief.

I just love being a part of their little thinking world.

And I was again reminded that she has become a little girl.

And while she may be getting huge… she’s still my baby.

– Great times had by all.

March 16, 2012 0

The Fall.

All parents have been there, it’s the terror of the fall. That slow-motion fall that you know will result in bruising, scrapes, blood, head-banging, chin-banging, skidding, or other pains. It’s that helpless moment when everything went wrong and no one can stop it. The look of chaos on your child’s face as they feel completely out of control and helpless falling in mid air. The time in which you brace yourself and pray for the best, fearing the possibility of the worse. The fall. I’m not talking about the trip or the bump. I’m talking about the fall. The all-out fall that can only end in those sobs of pain or worse, that shriek of great pain.

I have found that the sinking feeling in your stomach doesn’t change when witnessing falls at older ages. That kind of a fall results in the same unpredictable outcome whether you’re a baby or a teenager, the first or the tenth kid. All parents should rightfully fear the fall.

Thinking about the fall, a few terrifying moments come to mind. A normal outing at the park, sitting around the picnic table with the cousins enjoying Popsicles. Abi was asleep in the stroller, she did that a lot at nearly four months and Rachael sat amongst a gaggle of cousins and her nearby her Daddy. I sat on the other side of the table with Abi and Uncle Ron when I saw it happen. Daddy was preoccupied and 21 month old Rachael fell backward, head-first off the picnic bench. For those of you who need a mental image, when you fall off a picnic bench your legs are the last things to dismount. Sure enough her head hit with a thump on the concrete, producing a bloodcurdling wail. I remember it like it was yesterday, being stuck on the wrong side of the picnic table to catch her. All I could do was pray for the best in that moment of terror. Watching her head bounce off the concrete didn’t aid in my assurance. We scooped her up, Daddy and I both at the same time – both of our hearts in the pit of our stomachs. We watched her walk for the rest of the afternoon and kept a look out for signs of a concussion. She was fine. Just rightfully shaken up. And you had better believe over-protection came thereafter for the next hour.

Today, while drawing outside with chalk, Abi tripped over her own feet while nearly running resulting in a Superman dive to the sidewalk. I thanked the Lord on impact that her elbow broke her fall instead of her face. But her feet and arm took the skidding impact of her 20 month old body. Mommy was instantly needed and with some antiseptic creme and many kisses, Abi returned to normal in five minutes of heavy sobbing into Mommy’s shirt.

Or the time that Abi fell out of her booster seat, catching her chin on the table the way down. Her head bouncing backward in aftershock. My heart sank. Suddenly “you should have listened to Mommy” didn’t matter. She needed comforted and I needed to know she still had a tongue attached properly. Comfort and time produced healing, leaving behind the battle scar of a red spot.

I wonder what God’s face looked like as He saw Adam and Eve eat from the tree. I wonder if His heart sank to His stomach watching that slow-motion fall that He knew would result in bruising, scrapes, blood, head-banging, chin-banging, skidding, or other pains. It’s that helpless moment when everything went wrong and His redeeming love knew it was better not to stop it, though His compassion wanted to.

Being a parent is teaching me so much about the restraint and the heart and the compassion and the self-control and the reckless running that the Father has for His kids.

Being a parent is teaching me more about God

and forcing me to run to His arms all the more.

– thankful, even in the scrapes.

March 16, 2012 0

Shorts, Sandals, Soap, and Seeds

Last night for pajamas I picked out none other than a pair of shorts. Now this is impressive on two levels. 1. The weather is warm enough for me to think this a good idea and 2. I’m was not freezing to death due to this pregnancy last night to even think about exposing my sun-needing legs.

For the past three pregnancies I have been a hot mess -literally, but for this one I’m cold. Take whatever housewife tales you want from that as to whether I am carrying a boy or a girl. 😉

Rachael has clearly voted for a girl, explaining a few times at random that Hannah (our girl choice name) is a really good name. I’m still not sure if she knows that her opinion will not create the gender of this baby.

In other news, our little red wagon has gotten much use amid the neighborhood walks. I had left it on the front porch after our first walk and thus been reminded about it since.

Yesterday it was so beautiful that we ditched the red wagon, due the distance we’d need to travel and the fact that if we bring the wagon then all 35lbs of a three year old feels the need to ride, and grabbed the stroller. Abi is still young enough that her legs give out at the end of the street. So instead of carrying the 26lb toddler on my hip, I thank the Lord for strollers and so does my back and arms.

After digging through the shoes box of hand-me-down shoes, I happily busted out a pair of little white (really off-white, but still lovable) sandals for my growing-footed toddler. Abi smiled as she wiggled her toes in the open air.

When Rachael asked for a pair of sandals as well, naturally, I was sad to not offer her the same excitement (Rachael LOVES getting clothes and shoes from the hand-me-down box ironically). So to the dollar store we headed. Oddly enough, our local dollar store has decent “throw away” shoes that are surprisingly well made. The sandals don’t usually make it to the hand-me-down box, as well as the Chuck Taylor’s (LOVE) do, but for $4, they have a great variety of styles and options. Rachael was thrilled to get to “pick out her own” shoes after I had weeded out the ones that would not fit with her wardrobe or the flip-flop between-the-toe ones that I knew she would highly dislike. So she picked these white ones with pink/purple butterflies (who would have thought) over the yellow/gray butterflied ones. I’m glad she picked them, they’re cute.

And of course until they break (your feet) in, they produce this:

When we turned the corner of our block on the way home we saw much to our squeals of delight and running, DADDY WAS HOME!!! I love watching a three year old’s reckless abandonment to hug her Daddy. “We just saw him at lunch,” isn’t going through her mind. She just adores him and Abi would have run too if she wouldn’t have been caged in Mommy’s favorite, a stroller. =) But Abi’s kicking legs and flailing arms spoke volumes of her intentions.

Bubble play with Daddy was a necessity on such a beautiful afternoon. These pictures brought to you by Matt’s photography skills. =)

Then two little ones delighted in standing on the back of the couch to watch Mommy refill the bird feeder. I watered just about everything but the bird feeder with small, weed-producing seeds. GREAT! But a successful bird feeder fill did eventually happen.

Dinner, nursery and youth group at church concluded our evening and produced a Mommy in pajamas of shorts tuckered out after a wonderful day.

Hope the weather finds you outside too.

March 15, 2012 0

Adjusted Worldview

This morning a thought hit me. I was sitting in a half-filled bathtub to allow for Matt also to have hot water for his shower when he awoke. This alone is not blog-worthy, but the thoughts that God impressed upon my heart are blog-worthy.

It was in that moment that I realized most of the world doesn’t take a hot bath in the mornings or have the luxury of a shower. Here I was silently cursing our less-productive hot-water heater and suddenly I felt very grateful for it. Many people bathe in ponds, lakes, rivers or lukewarm tubs/buckets of “family bath” reused water.

I thought about our semi-useless dishwasher as a glorified two-level drying wrack with new eyes. Suddenly I felt over-blessed to have dishes to hand wash and put away when so many eat from one community bowl with their hands.

Check out this book at your local library (once I return it) for more literal pictures: “Material World – a global family portrait” by Peter Menzel. It certainly will open your eyes to the reality outside of our country.

This is not a blog to make you feel guilty or call us to flee our houses and live outside in our sheds to be more like the reality of the countries outside of the United States. But i have found that the more I look outside of the U.S. and the more I look to the reality of the majority of the population, not just the elite of wealthy countries, the more I am thankful to be so blessed by the Lord.

But we can’t stop there – how are we using our blessing to lift up the Lord and spread Christ? Selfish gain is useless to the Kingdom!

So thank You, Lord, for the conviction and the correct worldview from the comforts of my pretty-warm bath water. Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord. Now, Lord, please continue to open my eyes, my mind and my heart to how I can use the blessing to further Christ …. to the ends of the earth, Lord!

“Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen!
Show me how to love like You have loved me!!!
Break my heart for what breaks Yours!!!
Everything I am for You Kingdom’s cause…

Hosanna in the HIGHEST!”

March 14, 2012 0