Housaversary!

Three years ago today, we moved into our house. I still remember that first night, lying in bed and thinking, "Is all this really ours???" And the sweet, sweet silence, offset by morning bird song. We are always working to make our house more of a home than it already is. I can't imagine living anywhere else!

My very talented brother-in-law made this for our wedding.  Is is both flattering and accurate!

Fertility Yoga

I have been taking Fertility Yoga for a few weeks now. The teacher is a lovely woman, Leslie Daly. She is very supportive instructor, sprinkling compliments around and always correcting in a gentle way.

We start class by focusing and centering our attention, and making the sound of Ohm, which is one of my favorites. I really like the vibration it creates. Then, we warm up with some traditional asanas, like sun salutations with different variations. We might do some twists and hip openers before getting into some nice long poses that seem to be more about the "reproductive area" as she calls it. We do a deep child's pose, one that massages the abdomen, last night we did a deep supported back bend. I really like these poses. They are intense and relaxing at the same time, and I have mostly taken Vinyasa-style classes in the past which move fairly rapidly throughout.

My favorite part of any yoga class is the Savasana, or deep relaxation, at the end. Leslie goes around and puts eye bags on us and presses our shoulders into the ground. I think she puts on some sort of oil before she does it, too. It is so relaxing. We close with three "ooohs" and one Ohm.

I don't know if it does anything for my fertility but it sure helps with my stress levels!

More diapers!

So I have been broadening my horizons a bit and venturing out from the household names. Diaperpin.com has reviews of every brand out there, so it's easy to see what other users think. This is what I have ordered:

Bububebe - these seem to be a favorite for a lot of people, so I decided to give them a try. I went a little crazy and got 5! Two are multi-color striped, one is rainbow striped, one has pastel dots and one has adorable horses and carrots. It's hard to find gender-neutral dipes!

Wee Ones - solidly good reviews, I found these as seconds and ordered one each of cream, red, green, and yellow. With added optional snaps they were $12 each with shipping. Normally they would be about $20.

NRSS Sticky Peas - I had to Google to find out what this meant! NRSS stands for "No roll, simply stick." They are $28 new (if you can get them) and I got these for $12 each. I got one with jungle animals and one with giraffes. They are so cute! These need pins or a snappi but I decided to give them a try anyways.

I have been looking at reviews of covers and am realizing more and more that wool seems to be the way to go, at least for nighttime. The wool absorbs any overflow from the diaper and keeps the bed dry. It's also softer and not crinkly like a lot of synthetic covers. They have the cutest little shorts and pants available. They are horribly expensive, so I think when the time is right I will ask my mom to knit me some. So far I have onyl bought one wool cover, a Loveybums. It's pretty plain but I think it would be good for daytime use.

I also found out that a lot of people use the adorable Goodmamas without a cover during the day because they are so absorbent. I love this idea!

My total stash is now 15 fitteds and 5 AIOs. Getting there fast!

Let's talk cloth diapers

So, we all know that I am not pregnant. But I will be. And I like to be prepared.

I decided to cloth diaper some time ago, after plenty of research. The benefits are huge. Much cheaper, better for the environment, better for baby's skin, and so cute! The options are overwhelming, but I decided on a combination of fitteds with covers and all-in-ones.

Fitteds look a lot like disposable diapers. They come in different sizes, or one size that is adjustable. They can be made from many materials, including cotton, hemp, poly blends (no thanks!) and bamboo. They absorb, but are not waterproof. They have to be covered with a waterproof cover. You can make them more versatile by adding inserts for overnight use or heavy wetters.

A typical stash is at least 24 diapers and 6 covers, since you don't need to change the cover each time.

All-in-ones are covers that are pre-stuffed with the absorbent materials. They are easy to use because the whole diaper comes off and is replaced with a new one. The only downside is that they are whole lot more expensive and they take a long time to dry.

Washing is not that big of a deal in my opinion. You do laundry every 2 days or so, and drying them in the sun bleaches out stains naturally. Breast milk poo is water soluble so there is no pre-rinsing required. Later on, you can use flushable liners to contain the mess.

I have started to build my stash of cloth diapers. There are great used diapers available out there for way cheaper than they are when new. Most have only been used for a short period and are very clean. Sellers display the insides as well as outsides when listing them for sale. I am buying only gender-neutral colors because I hope to use them for two children.

So far I have ordered the following:

6 small Swaddlebees covers, 2 each in white, blue, and orange/blue circles. These are normally $15.95 each, I got them all for $26. This should be enough for the newborn stage; they fit 8-16 lbs.

3 Goodmama fitteds in a horse print, rainbow stripes, and green and white stripes. I'm not sure why these are always in prints since they need covers, but they are darned cute! $37 for the three, they are normally $35 each, if you can get them. Which is insane for a fitted diaper, you can get brand new organic cotton for about $16 each. They fit 10 lbs and up.

5 BumGenius organic all-in-ones in green and yellow. These are the highest-end diapers out there, and are normally $24.95 each and I got all five for $89.50. Not a huge savings, but a good deal. I won't buy any more of these until I know that they work for my baby. Supposed to fit 7-35 lbs, but it's hard to imagine a tiny baby in these.

I also bought two regular BumGenius all-in-ones new, on sale for $15.95 for both plus $5 shipping. I plan to give them to my sister-in-law to try on my niece. I think she will like them, if not, I will take them back! They are medium (15-22 lbs) and Butternut.

So there you have it! I am well on my way and learning more all the time.