A Big Pile

Well Asher is pretty much potty trained. True, he still hasn't gotten the nack for going #2 in the potty yet, but he has only had about 3 accidents in the last two weeks, so I think that is pretty good.

As I traded out his stash of cloth diapers for his "big boy" underwear it got me wondering just how many diapers I'd actually taken on and off that little boy's bottom in the last two and half years.

Here is what I came up with...

He is two years and five months old= 883 days

On average he has used about 5 diapers a day since he was born
(He used ALOT more than that when he was an infant but tapered down to two or three at the end, so 5 a day is a pretty conservative average)

That means he has gone through at least 4,413 diapers.

The disposable diapers I buy cost about $11 a package and contain, on average, about 50 diapers.

This means if I'd used only disposable diapers for him I would have bought at least 89 packages of diapers and spent more than $971 in the last two and half years.

I took a minute to imagine what 4,413 diapers and $971 looks like.

That is one big pile of expensive poop.

And if I'd only been using disposables for Rose in a year and half that number would be double-- over 8,822 non-biodegradable diapers and about $2,000... literally thrown in the garbage.

Just another reason I'm finding I love cloth diapers.

Answering Cloth Diaper Questions

I've had quite a few questions about cloth diapers since my last post and I thought I'd take a minute to answer some of them here in case there are others of you with the same questions.

Which diapers to do I like the best?

I gave some of my recommendations in this post and have to say that I like the Fuzzibunz and BumGenius pocket diapers the best.

Which are better FuzziBunz or BumGenius?

Honestly, I like both of them. When I first tested out cloth diapers I was going to invest in some one-sized BumGenius diapers because the Velcro was so much easier to use than the snaps. Then I ended up finding a woman who was selling her stash of small, medium and large Fuzzibunz for cheaper than what it would cost to buy one-sized ones. I have to admit that at first I was a little discouraged by the snaps because they take a more work to figure out than the Velcro. Snaps take a few seconds longer to do up and sometimes it is easy to snap them so that the diaper is crooked. There is a small learning curve to the snaps, but it isn't hard to get over. The learning curve is true for the the one sized diapers as well. BumGenius one-sized diapers are easier to adjust than the Fuzzibunz, but once you've figured out how the elastic adjust the Fuzzibunz one-sized aren't hard at all. To me it seems like the Fuzzibunz and the BumGenius one-sized diapers seem to be about the same amount of bulkiness... which in all honesty, after all my fussing, isn't really that noticeable.

While I like both brands of diapers I am glad that I got the Fuzzibunz instead of the BumGenius because I've only had my BumGenius for 6 months and the Velcro is already starting to be less sticky. I think it will probably survive these two babies but I don't think it will hold together for more babies. If you are intending to use your cloth diapers for more than one or two babies I'd invest in a diaper that has snaps. Plus, toddlers can't pull snaps off as easy as they can Velcro! I also like the Fuzzibunz because the don't have a lip over where the insert goes in like the BumGenius do. With the lip you have to reach in a pull the insert out, which sometimes can be kind of gross. If the diaper doesn't have a lip the you can just shake the liner out into the diaper pail. Less touching of bodily fluids.... good.

The bottom line...they are both really great... one-sized diapers are a good idea... and BumGenius just came out with snap diapers which look fantastic.

How many diapers do you have? Is it enough?

I have 13 diapers for Rose and about 15 for Asher. I think this is a pretty good number. I could probably do with fewer for Asher, around 10 would be plenty, but wouldn't mind having one or two more for Rose.

As for sizing I think it is safe to say that if your child is wearing a disposable size 1 or 2 then they would fit a small sized cloth diapers, if they are wearing a 3 or 4 then they would be a medium sized cloth diaper, and if they are in a 5 or larger they would be a large sized cloth diaper. Asher is two years old, he isn't super skinny or super chubby, he weighs about 35 lbs, and wears a size 4 disposable diaper. His large cloth diapers are still too big for him-- we have to put them on the smallest setting-- and I don't know if he will grow into them before he is potty trained. They might come in handy as nighttime pants for him while he is learning to use the potty at bedtime, but I am considering selling them because I don't know how much we will use them.

Where can I buy diapers?

I got some of mine from Jillians Drawers and really like them.

I've also heard good things about Nicki's Diapers, Green Mountain Diapers, and the Diaper Pin.

The cheapest way is to find someone in your area selling their stash... check the classifieds or craigslist.

Does anyone else have recommendations for where to buy cloth diapers or how to make your own?

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.

Heatherlady's Cloth Diaper Recommendations

Way back before all the drama happened in my life I promised to let you know what I thought about the different cloth diapers we tried and which were my favorites. I know that some of you probably aren't interested in all this but I figure I will write it up for those who are-- and who knows maybe someday you will consider doing cloth and then this might be helpful. If you aren't interested in everything you can skip to the bottom to see what we decided to do, how much it cost, and what I would recommend if you just want to get some for your emergency kits.

So here are my reviews of the types we tried, I put stars next to them to show how much I liked them-- the more stars the better.

Prefolds *

I WON'T be using these. They were WAY too hard to put on and were WAY WAY too bulky for my fashion preferences. I have to admit that it was a little fun to figure out how to put them on (which we figured out thanks to YouTube) but they aren't going to work for us. We ordered the largest size and they wouldn't wrap all the way around Asher's waist-- and he is a skinny little thing! Maybe we were doing it wrong, but even so I didn't like them. After using these diapers I can see why our mothers were so excited for disposables! Oh, but these Snappi clasps are kind of cool--

but they don't snap so don't get confused. Oh, and prefolds are NOT prefolded... yeah I don't get it either. Just another reason for me not to use them.

Fitted Diapers**

Better than prefolds, but still WAY too bulky for me and I don't like the added trouble of putting a diaper cover over it. I'd rather just have one step, especially when I have a wiggly toddler who doesn't want a diaper on. I kept this one though because it is good for nighttime and I don't mind if Asher has a bulky diaper on under his PJs.

All in Ones ***

I thought that I would like these a lot because they are basically just like a disposable-- you just put it on and take it off... no stuffing, no diaper cover, no snappi clasp. And while these are really easy to use they weren't my favorite because 1) they take longer to dry (but I found that if you turn it inside out it dries faster) and 2) because they are still kind of bulky and there is no way for you to control how bulky it is. Even so, I still liked this one and decided to keep it-- but we will probably just use it at night.

Diaper Cover with an insert****

Don't worry this isn't the diaper we put Asher in, but I picked this picture to illustrate that one of the best things about diaper covers is that they come in SO many different colors and styles. There are some REALLY cute ones out there. I liked using the diaper covers because they weren't bulky at all. You just put a microfiber insert, a prefold, or some other type of padding, into the diaper cover and then put it on. The only downside to this method is that it is harder to keep the insert in place than in a pocket diaper and the inserts don't "wick" the moisture away from the baby's bottom like the pocket diapers do. But diaper covers are cheaper than pocket diapers so that makes them a good option.

Pocket Diapers *****

My FAVORITE!!!!! By far. I like that you can control the bulkiness on these ones by how much padding you stuff in them. I've found that Asher really only needs a thin microfiber insert during the day and that it will last several hours. In fact, I have been surprised that they hold as much as a disposable and that he can wear it as long (if not longer) than he could a disposable diaper. I also like that they "wick" the moisture away from his bottom and the insert absorbs everything. They also dry fast, clean up easy, and are really slim fitting. When Asher has one of these diapers on-- even with a thicker insert-- he doesn't look bulky at all. They work good for naps and nighttime as well if you put more padding in them. They have one-size ones that fit from birth to potty training as well as small, medium and large sizes. I found that even though Asher is almost 2 years old he still can fit in a medium sized diaper better than a large. I read somewhere that most kids only need small and medium diapers, unless they are really big for their age.

What We Decided To Do:

I kept all of the diapers I got from the trial program, but will mainly just use the BumGenius and Fuzzi bunz ones. I like the one-sized pocket diapers because they will adjust to fit from birth to potty training. But I found a woman nearby who was selling her stash of Fuzzi bunz diapers (only used for one baby) and she had small, medium and large sizes. I was really excited about this because the sized diapers are suppose to be slimmer fitting than the one-sized (not as much extra material) and she was selling her whole stash for less than it would cost me to get one-sized ones. Also, I've heard and read that the Velcro on the BumGenius diapers eventually won't stick. So even though I really like the convenience of the Velcro and the snaps on the Fuzzi bunz are a bit more tricky to figure out, I decided that since we are doing cloth diapers with the intent to use them for the rest of our kids I should get ones that won't wear out. I also got a lot of white diapers (mostly because that was what the woman I bought them from had) which I REALLY like. The colors are SUPER cute but the white ones are a bit more discrete under clothes. The first time I put a white one on Asher I exclaimed "Oh, he looks like a little missionary!" To which Jon scoffed and asked me when I had EVER seen a missionary in a cloth diaper. Um.... I haven't... but the white diaper just looked so cute and so clean on him. I like the colored ones too though-- especially the little girl ones.

What Did it Cost?

Jillian's Drawers Trial Program

1 diaper cover
1 fitted diaper
1 BumGenius All in One
1 BunGenius pocket one-size (2 inserts)
1 Fuzzi bunz pocket one-size (2 inserts)
1 All in One
2 prefolds

Total: $110 (with shipping)

Lady Selling Stash

10 small Fuzzi bunz (with inserts)
8 medium Fuzzi bunz
3 large Fuzzi bunz (with inserts)
8 cloth diapers-- to stuff inside the mediums

Total: $170 (about $7-8 a diaper)

Grand Total: 29 diapers= $ 280

I know some of you probably think that is a lot of money-- and well... it is, but I calculated it up and right now we spend $30 a month on diapers and wipes just for Asher who goes through one pack of size 3 every two weeks. A new baby will add an extra pack of diapers each week which will mean that we will spending AT LEAST $50 (probably more) a month on diapers and wipes for the two of them-- and that is if I only buy the cheap brands. I calculated it up and I found that after using cloth diapers for only five months I will already have recouped what I spent on them. So it may be a bit of an investment upfront but I won't have to buy diapers or wipes again EVER! Well, except to have a few for trips or crazy days. When I think about how much we've already spent on Asher's diapers that are just sitting in the landfill, cloth just makes more sense to me. And now that I've found that they aren't so bad to use, I am pretty excited about this switch.

What Should I Get for my Emergency Kit?

I think that if you wanted to get some just for your 72 hour kit or food storage I would recommend getting some one-sized BumGenius or Fuzzi bunz diapers. This way you will always have a diaper that is the right size, no matter what age your baby happens to be. They are REALLY easy to use, unlike the prefolds which take some practice to use. But no matter which ones you get for your emergency kit I would REALLY recommend trying them out first so that you know how to use them and how to wash them. Then if something really did happen and you didn't have disposables you would be prepared to use them.

I hope that this helps all of you who are thinking about using cloth diapers sometime in the future!

The Verdict on Cloth Diapers is...

That I like them.

I have to admit that despite my initial excitement about trying something new and about how cute they are-- I was still REALLY skeptical about them and wasn't sure if I was up for them. But we have been using cloth diapers for about a month now and I've realized that they aren't as much work or as gross as I thought they were going to be. In fact, I wouldn't say they aren't too much different than using disposables-- except for the fact that you have to rinse them out and then wash them. Which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought.

I had a few BIG initial concerns when we started this cloth diaper adventure, but I think that over this last month I've resolved each one to my and Jon's satisfaction. So here were my concerns and how we resolved them.

1. Rinsing out sticky, smeary poopy diapers. This was my biggest concern because I can hardly even look at those really gross diapers-- let alone wash them! But it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be-- which is saying something! When I first thought of cloth diapers I imagined myself having to rinse and wash the diapers out in the toilet-- but really all you have to do is get the chunks off and flush them. If the diaper is smeary you might have to swish it in the water for a little bit, but it doesn't have to be all off and it doesn't have to be all clean. Just enough that there aren't big pieces (sorry, I hope that isn't too much imagery for some people). The washing machine gets most of the rest off-- and Jon is going to make me a diaper sprayer hose that connects to your toilet so I can just spray them and not have to dunk them (you can also buy sprayers online, but I have a handy husband who says he can make one cheaper). So poopy diapers haven't been the nightmare I envisioned them to be, and I think they will be NO big deal once I have a diaper sprayer. But it does add a bit more work than if you did disposables, but not really too much.
   
2. How cloth diapers work when you are out and about. This one was really super easy to figure out. I just take plastic bags with me in my purse and in the car and wrap the diapers up in them until I get home. My friend even found some bags at the dollar store that are scented. Dirty diapers can sit for a day or two before they need to be washed and start to smell, so carrying them around in my bag hasn't been a big problem. Also, I am not above using disposables for car trips, times I don't want to bother with cloth, or when I won't be home to wash them for awhile. For wipes I just put some of my homemade cloth wipes in a Ziploc bag or in my regular portable diaper container and then wrap them up with the stinky diaper like I would a disposable wipe. Oh, and the pocket diapers and the all-in-one diapers are SO easy to use that it is no big deal for other people to change them if the need arises.
   
3. What about wipes? I was concerned about wipes and how they would work with cloth diapers. This issue was easily fixed by making my own cloth wipes out of some old terry cloth material I've had sitting in my basement for ages. I've made about 30-40 wipes and then once a week I make a batch of wipes (the recipe is here) and then I can just wrap the wipe up in the cloth diaper and put them both in the pail. I actually like these wipes MUCH better than disposable wipes and even have been using them when I use disposables because they get Asher cleaner faster and make him smell better. I've found though that if you let them sit for longer than a week they start to smell musty, so I usually only make about 20 wipes at a time (only use 1 cup in the recipe instead of 2) and that seems to give us all we need for the week without them getting musty. Maybe when I have two babies I will make the complete recipe.
   
4. Diaper stains and used diapers. So far I have been AMAZED at how nice and clean my diapers get after washing them--even the really gross ones. I've only had one of my diaper inserts get stained so far, which was mostly because I really should have washed it once more (it was a pretty bad poopy diaper) and didn't. But it isn't that bad. I tried putting it out in the sun to get rid of the stain (everyone has been telling me that the sun will get rid of stains) but it didn't work. It made it lighter but it is still there. So maybe I'll put it out again next time it is dirty or just hit it really good with a stain remover. But overall, the diapers clean up really nice and I've heard that when they start to stink (someday) you just have to put them through a few intense hot washes and it gets rid of the smell. After seeing how nice diapers clean up I really don't have a problem with getting used diapers. I've found that lots of mom's take REALLY good care of their diapers and so used ones are almost as good as new ones-- except MUCH cheaper.
   

I'd say that there are only two things that make me hesitate about shouting the praises of cloth diapers to the blogging world-- 1) that you do have to dump/spray out the poop AND 2) that they are bit more bulky than disposable diapers are (when disposables aren't wet). Like I said before the rinsing thing isn't as big a deal as I thought-- especially with a diaper sprayer-- but you still have to do it. Some days this is a little bit more a of a pain, especially when life is busy or your toddler is crazy wiggly and demanding. So I've decided to keep a stash of disposables around as well so that on the days that get crazy or overwhelming I don't have to feel like I committed myself to something that is too overwhelming. We all have those days when even the little things push us over the edge-- and actually on those days ANY poopy diaper, cloth or disposable, is too much for me!

My other hesitation is about bulky diapers, which really is more of a vain fashion preference of mine. I don't like it when Asher's bottom looks poofy or when you can tell that he has a cloth diaper on. But I've pretty much resolved this one because I found that there are some brands and some types of diapers that are slimmer than others. I've found some brands and padding combinations that I really like and which make Asher's diapers about the same size as a disposable. I am going to write another post tomorrow (maybe?) about my personal recommendations on types of diapers and what I like the most. So, all in all we really like the cloth diapers and have decided that it is the best thing financially for our family. I could say more, but I think I'll end this post for today because it has gotten long enough already ;)

The Diapers Just Arrived!

Yeah! The cloth diapers I ordered from Jillian's Drawers (I am trying out their 21 day trial program which you can read more about here) just arrived! And they are SO CUTE! Oh my goodness are they cute. If they work as good as they look-- then I think I might be hooked. Asher is SUPER excited about them and has been carrying them around the house non-stop. We tried one on him and he kept patting his bottom and doing a little happy dance. It was cute (oh! How I wish I had a computer that worked so I could post pictures for you all to see! Hopefully I will soon.) I still have to pre-wash them before he can use them and I am super excited to see how the work out. I got the "gender neutral" colors (greens and yellows), which despite what Jon was fearing, DO NOT look poo and pee colored.

Oh, and yesterday I made my own homemade diaper wipes. I cut up some terry cloth material (or you can use old towels or receiving blankets) into squares the size of baby washcloths (which are almost exactly the same size as a disposable wipe) and then put them in a Tupperware container (or you can put them in an old diaper container) and added:

2 cups water
2 Tbsp baby oil (you can also use olive oil or essential oils)
2 Tbsp baby wash

I made about 10 wipes but I think I could do about twice that many with this recipe because my wipes are super moist. But they smell REALLY good. This way I can just fold up my wipes with the dirty diapers and wash them all together. Just one more thing I won't have to be spending money on-- only to throw away! Yippee!!! We got so many boxes of diaper wipes for Asher's baby showers that I didn't have to go buy wipes until a few months ago, and I was kind of shocked at how much they cost! They add up, considering how many we use!

Anyway, I am pretty excited to try this out. And if we don't like them we can send them back, or I will have some cloth diapers for my 72 hour kits AND will know how to use them.

Embarking on a Cloth Diaper Adventure

I'm kind of excited about this cloth diapering idea, it seems to have lots of benefits. From what I can tell people who cloth diaper all have their own reasons for it, but I decided that these are the reasons I want to give it a shot:

1. I am going to have 2 babies in diapers soon and I don't think our budget can handle buying 30+ dollars of diapers a week (newborns go through SO many!!!). There are several "one-size" cloth diapers that will fit from newborn through potty training. Even though it is a bit of an investment at first I think it will really pay off in the long run. Also I found this great website where you can buy used diapers fairly cheap.
2. If there is ever an emergency, like a flood, earthquake, or an economic collapse, I want to have some sustainable way to diaper my children so I don't end up using old towels or something else. I was going to buy some cloth diapers for my 72 hour kits anyway, so I might as well try them out and see how they work.
3. I like the idea of not contributing so much waste to the landfill. It makes me feel like a better citizen and better spiritually.
4. They are SUPER cute and really ingeniously put together-- definitely not what our grandmothers used!
   

BUT I still have some unresolved doubts about them, like

1. I am okay with wet diapers and breastfed exclusively diapers because they are water soluble and can just be thrown in the washer, BUT what about those awful sticky, stinky poopy diapers-- will I be able to handle rinsing them out?
2. What about when I am out and about, where do I stick the stinky, poopy diapers if I can't just thrown them away?
3. What do you do about wipes, do you throw them away seperatley? Do I have to wrap them in something? Do you just flush them down the toilet?
4. Won't "used diapers" be kind of gross? Will they get stinky eventually? What about stains?
   

YET, despite these doubts I think we are going to try them out. I found THIS wonderful program through Jillian's Drawers where you can try out 4 or 5 different cloth diaper types for only $10. They are new diapers and you get to try them out for 21 days, then if you don't like them you mail them back and it only cost you $10. But if you do like them you keep them and they give you a discount on them. So I figure I don't have too much to loose. I'll get a few cloth diapers and see how they work for us. Maybe they will, maybe they won't-- I'll keep you posted.

Thinking about Cloth

The great thing about our old house is that all the old people in our neighborhood can tell us the history of the people who have lived in our house. Our house is almost 100 years old, it was built in 1916 by Scandinavian immigrants, and we keep finding new treasures about it all the time. Just a few days ago the man who lives next door told us that the family used to have their own garbage pit in the back yard where they put all their household trash. At first I thought GROSS! You mean they had a mini-dump back here! But then as I thought about it I realized that families, especially farming families, in the early 20th century didn't produce a lot of household trash. Most families at the time would have had their own trash pits, because there just wasn't enough "trash" to even bother with having the city come pick it up.

This really got me thinking.

Yesterday as I was taking out a bag of trash to our garbage can. I realized that our little family of 3 produces a TON of trash, literally. We don't really realize it because the city comes and picks it up once a week and hauls it off to some place we never have to look at. But what if I did have to look at it everyday? What if for some reason I had to dispose of my own household trash in my own backyard, like the family who lived here 100 years ago did? I realized that we would be swimming in trash! It wouldn't take us very long to fill up our backyard with all the packaging, paper, and diapers we dispose of each day. Ugg. I realized that just because I don't have to see the trash doesn't mean that it doesn't exist and that it isn't polluting my community. Even though the dump is miles away from my house it is still my "backyard" and I have a responsibility to minimize what I throw in it.

Thinking about how little the family who lived here 100 years ago wasted and polluted made me reevaluate my own personal habits. I've decided that I am REALLY going to try and limit the number of packaged or disposal items I use. The more things I can reuse is one more thing that won't get piled up in my "backyard" or won't cost extra money to recycle. I know this is going to be harder than I think, but I really feel that it is important. Besides, I think it is just a smart way to live, and the way the God has been asking his Saints to live for the last 60 years. Prophet after prophet has warned us and counseled us to grow our own gardens, to live providently, to have food storage, and to learn basic living skills. I've decided it is time that I really start listening and making changes in my life. These are some of the ways that I am going to try to be more self-reliant and be a better steward of the earth:

1. Cloth diapers. I've gone back and forth on this one because it just seems intimidating to me. But I've been doing a lot of research and talking to a lot of people about them and I am starting to get really excited about the idea! They really don't seem like as much work as I initially thought-- in fact most mom's I've talked to say they are just as easy as disposables. And after taking Asher's 5th dirty diaper out to the trash yesterday I decided that if I had to pile up all his dirty diapers in my backyard I would be SO grossed out. Much better to have something I can wash and reuse. Also, I am going to have 2 babies in diapers soon and cloth diapers just seem to make more sense from a financial standpoint. I'll let you know how it turns out.
   
2. Bottle and preserve my own food. I have over 200 bottles that I got from Jon's grandma that are waiting empty in my basement. My goal this summer is to fill them up with apricot jam, apricots, pears, pear butter, pear sauce, applesauce, salsa, plum syrup, pickles, peaches, and anything else I can get my hands on. Yep-- lots of work, but I actually REALLY enjoy canning. I think food tastes better when you've gone through the work of "putting it up."
   
3. Have chickens. The fact that they lay eggs is just a bonus to me. I think I'd like having them even if they didn't.
   
4. Grow a garden. Check. Started on this one.
   
5. Learn to make homemade foods-- like bread (which I am getting MUCH better at), tortillas, tortillas chips, ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc...

This is a start. I know it will take practice but it should be a lot of fun! It is exciting to me to think I can start living more like the family who lived here 100 years ago did. And you know what, I don't think it is going to be as challenging as I think-- just full of rewards!

I'd love to know what things you and your family do to help save money, live more providently and to care for the earth!