The Cloth Diaper Adventure: 6 months later

Wow.

I can't believe that it has already been 6 months since I embarked on my cloth diaper adventure.

I first started this adventure because of financial incentives and from a desire to live more providently, but over the last few months my reason for using cloth diapers has changed. I'd say now that the reason I use them is because they work so much better than disposables. Jon and I have actually gotten to the point where we prefer to use the cloth diapers because they don't leak, explode, or sag like the disposables do.

I really, let me emphasize really, love cloth diapers for infants. If your baby is exclusively breastfed you don't have do anything to the diapers besides take them off, put them in the diaper pail, and wash them. Breast milk stools are water soluble and don't stink so cleaning up after them is super easy. Also cloth diapers are incredible at preventing blow-outs. I could count on one hand how many times Rose has blown out a cloth diaper and those were times when I was just lazy and didn't change her soon enough. For that reason I actually prefer cloth diapers to disposables. It seems like every time we put her in disposable diapers (which we do when we go on trips) she blows out at least one diaper a day. That never happens with cloth.

I think it would be worth it to cloth diaper your infants and then switch to disposables, once they start solids at 6 months, if you didn't want to bother with swishing them out. Cloth diapers just work better than disposables for infants and are much cheaper in the long run. Newborns go through almost a pack a week at first and each pack costs about $10. That adds up to at least $80 by the second month of life. I've only bought 2 packs of diapers for Rose so far and that was because we were going on vacation. I estimate that we've saved at least $100 just on Rose's diapers and probably much more because I've only bought 2 or 3 packs of diapers for Asher since we switched to cloth.

I've also learned some valuable cloth diapering lessons in the last few months that I think might be helpful to anyone else starting out with cloth diapers.

Here is what I've learned the last six months:

1. Diaper pails belong outside, cloth or disposable. It is gross to have it in the house.

2. Don't use very much detergent or a pretreatment spray when you wash them or they will get soap build up and smell bad. At first I was using a whole cup of detergent and spraying them with Shout before I washed them. After awhile they really started to smell bad and I learned that you should only use about a 1/4 cup of detergent so that they don't get soap build up in them.

3. Cloth diapers smell different than disposables when wet. At first I thought something was wrong with my diapers but then I realized that pee just smells whether your kid is in a disposable or cloth diaper.

4. If your diapers start to smell like ammonia or mildew then a 1/4 c vinegar and a few hot water rinses usually helps a lot. I also found something called Bac-Out that is sold in health food stores (or the health food section of Smiths) that removes odors. It works great and just a few tablespoons makes my diapers smell great. I haven't even gone through 1/3rd of a bottle yet.

5. Wash them every other day. If you let them sit longer they get kind of gross. Washing them isn't really a big deal for me. I've found that I really enjoy doing diaper laundry. I look forward to folding and organizing my diapers. Weird... yeah... but if you have cloth diapers you probably understand what I am talking about. For some reason washing cloth diapers is really satisfying. Here is my diaper set up.

Rose's diapers and inserts are on the left, Asher's diapers and inserts are on the right. The big basket on the bottom is for cloth wipes that aren't being used. The other basket has odds and ends and the disposables we use for going on trips and church are on the bottom right. An old diaper wipe container on the top holds my wet cloth wipes. I've found a wide mouthed container works best for cloth wipes.

All in all I really love cloth diapers and will probably use them for all my future children. If you are thinking about switching to cloth remember that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing switch. You can mix and match disposables and cloth to your heart content. Don't be intimated by cloth, it is really a whole lot easier than it looks.

I am embarking on a new adventure soon... the toilet learning adventure. Help.

The Goat Boy

Several weeks ago I went with a friend and her little boy to a nearby historical farm. We went early in the morning and there was hardly anyone there. It was a toddler's heaven. Asher ran all over the place petting and looking at animals to his heart's content. At one point he ran into this barn, that I don't think we were suppose to go into, where there was a man milking a cow. He asked if we wanted to try milking it. Asher and his little friend were too scared but my friend and I jumped at the chance. I know it probably sounds funny to those of you who grew up on farms but I thought it was so much fun. It made me want to get a cow... maybe just a little one :)

By far Asher's favorite part was the goats. The first thing he told me when he saw them was, "Doats... ooh...ball." There was a basketball in the goat pen and Asher was determined to get some goat to play with him.

Once he realized that they weren't going to play. He took to snuggling them instead.

He sat there with his arm around the goat for a long time. It was a patient goat. Eventually I had to drag him... literally... out of the goat pen.

I got these two videos of the little goat boy. The first one is him attempting to get the goats to play basketball with him. It is pretty cute, but not as cute as the second one in which he gives three goats a big bear hug. Good thing goats are heavy or they might have been carried around like our poor chickens.

Hmmm, maybe we could get a goat next... just a little one.

Happy World Toilet Day!

I bet you didn't know yesterday was World Toilet Day.

Then again you probably aren't married to an environmental engineer

who has a passion for waste water

whose name is Jon (another name for a toilet in the US)

and whose birthday is the same day as World Toilet Day.

Jon thinks that this is a cosmic coincidence and takes great joy in it.

He insisted that we incorporate World Toilet Day into his birthday celebration this year.

So how do you celebrate World Toilet Day and the birthday of a "poop engineer" (as my brother calls Jon's chosen profession)?

You squat.

For a minute.

To bring awareness to the 2.5 million people with out proper sanitation (that means no form of toilet or latrine... at all... nada... it means on the ground... in the water... you get the idea) and the 1.8 million people, mostly children, who die from disease related to poor sanitation.

So we squatted,

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of us squatting, but here are people squatting for World Toilet Day. I think next year Jon wants to get a group together at the university for a Big Squat event.

Decorated with toilet paper streamers,



and ate a toilet cake.

I am pretty proud of this cake.

It was my first attempt ever at making a cake that wasn't round or square. It turned out pretty good but after I frosted it the bowl began to crack in the middle. I had to hold it together with saran wrap. I figured that somehow saran wrap and toilets kind of go together so it was alright. Next year I'll have to engineer it better. By the time Jon is 60 I am going to be amazing at making toilet cakes!

I think he had a really good day. He loves it that he shares his birthday with World Toilet day. He really has a passion for water and for finding ways to provide people with clean water. He gets so excited about it. In fact we have a rule at our house now that you can't talk about waste water, toilets, flocculation, or bio-solids at the dinner table. I don't mind talking about it at other times, it really is fascinating and goes hand in hand with my Public Health background, but I just can't handle it while I'm eating.

It's not too late to celebrate World Toilet Day.

Today as you use your toilet take a minute to think about how blessed you are

about how much you take your toilet

and your clean water for granted

because there are millions of people out there who don't have it.

Misunderstanding

The other day I was nursing Rose and trying desperately to keep Asher occupied. I asked him if he would draw me a picture. He's been a bit obsessed with picture drawing lately, so he gladly ran and got a pen. When he came back I asked him if he would draw me a picture of the baby. He looked at me with a puzzled face. I repeated my request and once again he looked at me puzzled. Then with one last glance at me he pulled out his pen and started to draw ON the baby! When I stopped him he looked at me with a confused face. I guess he didn't quite understand what I was asking. It was so cute and I just had to laugh instead of get angry.

Here he is trying to put her binky in for her. He's gotten much better at it, even though he still squashes her most of the time.

Becoming Crunchy

I just added my blog to the Mormon Mommy Blogs listings. I had a bit of an identity crisis trying to figure out what category I should list my blog under.

Homemaking? I do it
Thoughtful women? I am... sometimes
Spiritually speaking? My other blog is listed there
Funny ladies? I wish, but that is definitely not my defining characteristic
The Sweet Life? I have that
Saucy blogs? I can make tomato sauce, does that count?
Writers? I try to be

I did some soul searching and finally decided on listing my blog under the category entitled

Crunchy Moms

As I looked at the other blogs listed there I realized that these were the women I had the most in common with and who I would probably be friends with in real life... no offense to the saucy moms.

It kind of took me by surprise. I've never thought of myself as a crunchy, granola-ish person. But I realize that over the years my philosophies and my life style have become more and more "alternative." I home birth... I cloth diaper... I have a compost pile... I'm enchanted with my chickens... I breastfeed without shame in public... I make my own bread... I don't shave my legs or wear a bra... ha, just kidding on that one... I want to start eating more locally grown foods... I'm considering homeschooling...

How did this happen? How did I go from the girl who was sure she needed an epidural and who adamantly refused to consider cloth diapers, to the type woman I am now? It seems to have happened without me even being aware of it.

When I think back I really started down the road of "granolahood" when I chose to have a home birth with my first baby. It seems like once I made that one alternative life style choice, when I threw what popular culture had been telling me all my life right out the door and made a choice that was different, daring, and difficult... but which was the right thing for me... a world of possibilities was flung wide open. I began to see that there are so many ways to live and not one of them is the right way.

In the last several years I've met people who do things differently than me and differently than anyone I've ever met before. At first I was kind of judgmental and thought they were just a bunch of weirdos. Yet as I got to know them better my opinion totally changed. They are incredible people and they are constantly teaching me, changing my perspective on the world, and challenging me to discover what choices are right for me and my family... even if it isn't what everyone else is doing. Some of the things they've taught me have resonated with my soul and I've incorporated them into my life, while other things just haven't worked for me: co-sleeping has never worked great for us, I believe in immunizations, I didn't nurse my baby past a year, and I still don't completely buy into things labeled "organic"... but who knows, I did once swear I would never, ever use cloth diapers and well...

All in all, it has been really exciting, fulfilling, and liberating these last few years to to realize that there are so many new things to learn, so many new ways to look at the world, and so many ways to be a woman and a mother. I find myself constantly challenging ideas, discovering new ideas, returning to old ideas, and creating my own way of living and being that satisfies my soul and is making me I hope a better person. I know that not all the choices I make are right for other people, just like their choices aren't always the best for me, but as I've stepped "outside the box" on somethings it has really opened up my mind and my soul to all the possibilities for life. I realize that I can't let anyone else define what is right or wrong for me, but that I need to research it, think and pray about it, and discover for myself how I should live. It is a never ending journey... and it is a whole lot of fun.

Well, thanks for hearing me through to the end and I guess now it is official. I am a "crunchy granola" mom. I think my fifteen-year-old self would die of shame. Which is kind of funny, because even back then I had a bit of a passion for granola... hmmm... foreshadowing maybe?

How did you become "crunchy"?

Wednesday's Woman

Yes, I know it is Thursday but I didn't finish it yesterday.

Noah's Wife



Genesis 6: 18
Genesis 7: 7, 13
Genesis 8: 16, 18
Moses 8:12

Can I just say I LOVE this picture.
If anyone happens to know the artist (I couldn't find it) please let me know.

Why Rake Leaves?

I don't get it.

Why do people rake up leaves?

It seems like a complete waste of time to me.

If you just leave them on the ground they will compost over the winter and they will magically be gone by the time spring rolls around.

So why go through all the hassle of raking them up?

I have a theory.

This is it:

Once long ago people raked up their leaves because they wanted them for their compost piles. Eventually people stopped making compost piles, but because all their life they had seen people raking up leaves they thought that you were suppose to do it... so they did.

I haven't raked any of the leaves in our yard. I probably won't.

Unless of course we decide to jump in them... then it might be worth the work.

I love living in a place that looks like this in the fall. So pretty.

Name Change

I'm changing the name of my blog... just in case you didn't notice.

Initially I chose "Meet the Heathons" because it was a clever combination of Jon's and my names. My college roommate made up "heathon" when Jon and I were engaged and it stuck. It is kind of our family nickname. Yet, while our friends and family might understand the name, I'm afraid that the people who come across my blog from out in bloggerland won't and might get the wrong idea about Mormons. I don't want them thinking that Mormons aren't Christians or that I take my religion flippantly.

So even though I will miss "Meet the Heathons" I think it is time for a new name. The URL address will stay the same (heathon.blogspot.com) so you won't have to change that or worrying about loosing me... I'm staying in the same spot... just getting a make-over.

Also let me know what you think about my new blog design. I'm still playing around with it (some of the buttons don't work yet). Is it too busy? Hard to read? Likes? Dislikes? I don't mind constructive criticism... just don't be too mean :)

Thanks for reading. You add joy to my life.

Save the Women's Research Institute!

BYU is closing the Women's Research Institute (WRI).

This makes me want to bawl... scream... hug Bonnie (the director of the WRI)... do something drastic... and generally make a ruckus.

For the past three years I've had the dreaded feeling that this would happen. During my last year of working as a research assistant there (I worked there almost 4 years) all our other research got pushed aside trying to get materials together for the "review" BYU was doing on the institute. It was awful. We were constantly trying to find ways to prove to the university and the review board that what the WRI was doing was useful and important. The whole time we were working on it I kept asking myself... why? Why is this even a question? This institute studies women's experiences, relationships between men and women, women's welfare, and the impact women have on the world... aren't women useful and important?

The WRI was a godsend in my life. When I started at BYU I was young and very confused and bitter about women's roles in society and within the LDS church. Through the WRI I met women and had discussions that changed my heart, answered my hard questions and healed my soul. Another women who worked at the WRI wrote an article in the Exponent that captured exactly how I feel. She said:

"... it was the lessons I learned in my women’s studies classes that influenced my ideas of marriage and motherhood. I have a happy marriage because I was taught gender theory and was looking for equal partnership. I love being a mother because my teachers not only validated motherhood as a feminist choice but provided models of how to be a mother without losing one’s self. I am still a faithful, temple-recommend holding member of the church because my teachers acknowledged the painful and problematic aspects of our doctrine and provided me with enough satisfactory answers to stay. And they were able to do this because of the safety and support of the Women’s Research Institute.

No where else on BYU campus were topics such as female sexuality, the exploitation of women and feminism safe to broach. The WRI was a haven..."

Like this woman, I too found peace about my role as a woman in the LDS church, about motherhood and about my relationship with my husband because of the haven I had in the WRI. It makes me so sad to think that after next year other young women who are struggling with the gospel and feminist questions won't have the WRI to turn to. Where will they go? How many will flounder? How many will lose their faith because they can't find answers to their questions? It makes me want to cry.

BYU needs the Women's Research Institute because LDS women need it. There are many LDS women who never struggle with questions of gender inequality, but for those of us who do the WRI represents hope. Hope that there will always be an open dialogue between LDS men and women on gender. Hope that if we keep searching we will find answers to our hard Gospel questions. Hope that one day men and women will be able to live together with out violence or inequality. And hope that our daughters will inherit a world that is safer and kinder to women.

I don't want to give up that hope.

If you don't either you can join the facebook group "Save the Women's Research Institute" , join the protest at BYU (oh how I wish I was there), write a letter, and pray... a lot.

Rose's Blessing Day

November 1, 2009

Her grandma made her this quilt. It has roses all over it. It is incredibly beautiful.

If you'd like to read my thoughts on the day go here.

And the Winner Is...

The Polar Express Boy!

All the costumes were great but my panel of non-biased judges (and some of the readers who voted) picked this one. It is really original and such a cute idea. You should see her and her hubby's costumes too!

Congrats Jenny! Email me your address and I'll send your moby wrap.

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the carnival. I could tell that everyone put a lot of hard work into their costumes. I'm sorry about the mix-up about private blogs. I should have made it more clear that if you wanted to participate you needed to have a public blog so that everyone could see your post. Oh well, this was a fun experiment. Next year I'll just have to get all the kinks worked out. And if I get a REALLY good prize maybe I'll lure more of you into participating!

Halloween Carnival!

Yippee! Is time for the Halloween costume carnival. The widget to link your post is at the bottom of this post (here are the guidelines for those who want to play). Don't forget to leave a comment with your vote for the best costume. The winner will be announced on Wednesday night and will get a homemade moby wrap like the one I am wearing in these pictures (except it will probably be a different color). Aren't you excited?

Here is how Halloween went at our house. Every year our neighborhood does a trunk or treat on Halloween and this year we decided to go with a farm theme. We loaded our chickens into the back of our truck and had a regular little happy chicken farm.

Complete with the biggest chicken of them all...

and a little black barn cat...

our pumpkins even got into the chicken theme...

Jon did the chicken; he free-handed it... no pattern. I did the other one, it is suppose to be a vampire... I know, it looks like a smiley face. I hope our kids get some of Jon's artistic genes.

Asher got the hang of trick-or-treating really fast. At first he wanted to eat every "snack" he got, but once he realized he just kept getting more-- he took off. He'd run up to each car with his hand out and demand "snack". Unfortunately his favorite "snacks" were the fruity, colorful ones. Next year we'll have to teach him how to go for the good chocolaty stuff... so he can share with mom and dad... he he.

Okay so now it is your turn! What were your you or your kids for Halloween?